


Bar Top Romance

by endlesssky



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Action, F/M, Mild Crossover, Reader-Insert, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-03-02 21:04:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 76,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2826050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlesssky/pseuds/endlesssky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark had always thought that he would have Pepper Potts by his side for the rest of his life, if not as his girlfriend then at least as his assistant. Alas, life doesn't always work out the way you want it to. Tony, meet your new assistant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet the replacement

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Iron Man isn't mine, YGO isn't mine, the reader isn't mine either, but because I'm the almighty authoress, your entire life story is in my hands. Deal with it. 
> 
> Yes, I also post the same story on deviantart.com; last I checked, ripping yourself off isn't considered plagiarism.

  Tony Stark had always thought that he would have Pepper Potts by his side for the rest of his life, if not as his girlfriend then at least as his assistant. But things change and a few weeks after a surprisingly calm break up (calm assurances from Tony and buckets of tears from Pepper), his ex-girlfriend became his ex-assistant when she decided to settle down with one Happy Hogan. Which is why he was sitting in his room at the Stark Tower, awaiting the replacement Pepper had gotten him.

  You were not a happy trooper. Not that you normally were but today is an exceptionally bad day for you. First your employer of 8 years tells you that he is no longer in need of your services, he then sends you half way around the world to be employed by some egoistical bastard named Tony Stark; all of that with less than 24 hours of notice. But reality dictates that you needed a job, so you had no choice but to accept the arrangement. Which is why you are standing in the elevator at Stark Tower, headed for the highest floor.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    “Come in,” a monotonous voice stated crisply as the elevator door opened. There lounging on the couch like he owned the place (and he does) is Tony Stark, your new employer.

“Hi sir, I’m (f/n) (l/n), nice to meet your acquaintances,” you greeted as you stood before then man.

He nodded flippantly, “Nice to meet you and all that crap, here’s the deal. You’ll never be as good as my last assistant, you probably never will be, but I respect Pepper and her sense of judgment, so I’ll assume that you’re better than those other leggy blondes I could have lining up working for me. Now my kitchen is that way and my bar is to your right, do me a favor, make me an Irish coffee and something for lunch, then cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. If you can manage all that, maybe I’ll let you go to that press conference in my stead later this evening. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my private workshop.”

With that, the infamous Stark walked off without a second glance at you.

  Down at his workshop, Tony was tinkering with yet another version of his suit when JARVIS spoke up.

“Sir, do you not think that you were somewhat unreasonable with Ms (l/n)?”

“What did I say about double negatives JARVIS?” Tony replied, avoiding the question.

Of course he knew he was being unreasonable and harsh with you, but he is still upset about losing Pepper, so tough luck to you for having to deal with him during these times. No one would ever replace Pepper in his life, no one. Who did you think you were, waltzing in thinking you could take Pepper’s place?

“Mr Stark, your brunch is ready,” you stated, holding a tray of sandwich and Irish coffee.

Tony waved you in wordlessly, “just leave it on the counter.”

You mentally raised an eyebrow and did as told before standing there waiting for your next orders.

 A few moments passed before an irritated Tony turned to glare at you, “Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of here and do what I paid you to do.”

You bit back a retort and nodded, what an ass.

  “Sir, I think that was entirely uncalled for,” JARVIS stated once you were out of earshot.

Tony narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Instead he picked up the coffee and sipped before taking a bite of sandwich and proceeded to throw both of them down.

“Is the food bad sir?” JARVIS enquired.

 “No,” Tony growled in reply, no, the food was fucking fantastic and he hated you so much for it. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  First day of work was officially hell, you decided. Sure Seto Kaiba was mean and harsh but he was never an ass. Tony Stark on the other hand was an unreasonable bastard overall and you’ve only met the guy for less than an hour. There was no briefing, no explanations, just demands. Sure, Mrs Hogan nee Potts had told you what the job entailed but you had expected an orientation of some sort for himself and whatever the billionaire was pissed at he had no reason to take it out on you. If anyone had any right to be pissed it was you. You did not just get crammed on a plane for 20 hours, shower at the airport toilet, all with jetlag hanging over your head just to get told that you’re not good enough and to make someone a cup of fucking Irish coffee. Thinking back to the coffee you smirked. You bet that the infamous Iron Man as definitely not expecting you to fulfill your orders so well, but you definitely didn’t spend your 3 years standing behind the bar tops during school nights for nothing and you’ve definitely spent enough nights cooking up dinner for your more than picky ex-boss supper during his all-nighters. Never be as good as his previous assistant? You’re going to be better than her in every single way or die trying.

  By afternoon, you had cancelled all of ‘Mr Stark’s’ appointments, sorted out all the repairs that had to be done for the Stark Tower, picked up his dry cleaning and even fixed up a late afternoon snack. It was then when Tony Stark decided to emerge from his workshop, probably motivated by the smell of food and his growling stomach.

“What do you have there?”

 The man jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen counter where a plate covered in aluminum foil sat, you brought the plate over, sat it down on the coffee table and uncovered it.

“It’s Sharwarma sir.”

 Your boss nodded silently and wordlessly took a bite out of it. For 30 seconds, the awkward silence (sans the sounds of his chewing) ensued.

 “What’s on my schedule for the rest of the week?” He finally asked, still not making eye contact with you.

 Chanting OM in your mind repeatedly you answered as professionally as you could, “You have a press conference tonight, I’ve called to let them know that your attendance is pending and have a Stark PR officer on standby if you cannot make it. You have a board meeting on Wednesday and a meeting with the R&D department tomorrow, both of which I’ve scheduled replacements in case you are unavailable. Your consulting session with SHIELD on Thursday I have been unable to cancel but I managed to have the venue moved from the Helicarrier to Stark Towers. You are otherwise free sir.”

  A frown graced Tony’s face and you wondered if you did anything wrong. Just as you were about to ask if anything was wrong, he spoke up.

  “Well, since you were so productive today, I have a stack of reports waiting for me in my office 2 floors down, why don’t you finish them up for me? “

  You blinked twice, a stack? That mountain of paper work is not a STACK, but you had pride and if Tony Stark wants to play rough then you’ll play rough.

   “Sir, I’m taking it as you are not attending tonight’s press conference?”

  Tony looked up and gave you an ‘are-you-stupid’ look. Resisting the urge to smack him over the head with your oversized schedule book, you acknowledged his order and left for his office. If that son of a bitch thinks you’re going to call it quits just because the going got tough then he’s got another thing coming.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  It was 3am by the time you cleared that mountain of reports, most of it were complaints on collateral damage caused by Iron Man, few were actually reports relevant to Stark industries, after delegating what you could to the Stark lawyers and department heads, you headed up holding a digital copy (because it just wouldn’t do to get scolded for being ‘ungreen’ and printing on paper when Stark Industries is going into green energy) of the key issues of the reports. Your original plan was to leave it to the coffee table for Tony’s viewing leisure the next day morning, which is why you were probably not prepared to see a half-naked Tony Stark ripping off the bra of what you assumed to be a barely legal blonde with his teeth on the couch. Entranced in whatever Tony was doing, the girl failed to notice your presence by the door, but the ever perceptive Tony did. You had expected him to stop what he was doing and throw you out, instead he cast an annoyed glare at you and continued what he was doing, like you weren’t even there.

  You decided then and there that Tony Stark had something against you, you had no bloody idea what it was but unfortunately for him, you are not beneath petty revenge. You were determined to make his life a living hell without compromising your job, starting from this very moment. Quietly and as slowly as you could without being suspicious, you went about gathering the clothes strewn on the floor, knowing all this while that Tony’s eyes were following you in what was probably an annoyed glare. The blonde on the other hand was completely oblivious to your existence, and you didn’t know to be impressed with Tony Stark’s womanizing skills or whatever she was high on for the day. Before leaving, you switched the light to mood lighting in the room and locked the door, walking out as if you did not just see two people almost having sex.

  Next day morning, Tony found a full English breakfast and what was labeled as a hangover smoothie waiting for him on his work table in the workshop, along with it a receipt for a Victoria Secret’s bra. In the living room, his flavor of the night was being greeted by you holding her dry-cleaned clothes and a new bra along with instructions of a car waiting for her at the lobby. The girl gave you a wary look when you presented her with her new underwear, wondering how the hell you knew that Tony had damaged the hooks of her bra with his teeth. You smiled at her throughout her stare and after a while she chalked it up to Tony’s orders and left. After which you went about straightening the pillows and picking up the mess that was last night’s party.

 “JARVIS,” you asked, feeling slightly stupid for talking to thin air.

 “Yes, Ms (l/n)?” The British AI replied.

 “Could you drop an email to whichever company Mr Stark bought his couch from and inform that that the upholstery needs replacing? Bodily fluid stains are rather hard to clean off,” you stated as you futilely tried to scrub off what was an obvious cum stain from the white couch.

 “Certainly Ms (l/n).”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Two weeks went by with you cancelling meetings when you had to, doing Tony Stark’s paper work all while kicking out his flavor of the day and fixing him meals. You had not made a single mistake so far and Tony Stark was starting to get really frustrated.

  “Why is she so damn perfect at everything!” He growled as he slammed the delicious black velvet you made for him on his work bench.

  Always the talker, JARVIS replied, “I’m not sure I understand sir. Is it not great that Ms (l/n) is efficient at her job?”

  “Well…yes! But, NO. She just can’t be good at it, NO ONE can take care of me but Pepper!” Tony finally shouted in his alcohol induced rage mode.

  No matter how smart, JARVIS will always be an artificial intelligence and AIs tended to have problems when it comes to tact.

  “Sir, you are basically saying that you are being harsh to Ms (l/n) as a means of venting your anger at Ms Potts departure. Am I correct?”

  Tony didn’t bother gracing him with an answer, embarrassed and enraged, he instead threw the coffee mug against the wall and stormed out of his workshop.

  You were probably the last person he wanted to see, but there you were, standing behind his bar, cleaning the glasses with a towel and humming some random tune under your breath, as if everything was alright. Tony growled, everything was not alright, how dare you be so happy. Tony stormed over to the bar and sat down forcefully.

“Scotch, double, straight.” He demanded.

  Almost immediately, your humming ceased and that peaceful smile on your face was replaced with a bad poker face. Your anger was leaking and Tony could see it, inwardly he smiled. Finally, you were showing signs of cracking. You took a deep breath and exhaled before expertly serving him his order.

  He took a sip and almost slurred, “You sure you’re working the right job? Shouldn’t you be bartending at some local joint with those skills instead of being an assistant? Bet the guys tip well if you let them have a grope of your breasts. Oh wait you don’t have any. Ah well, your ass will have to do then.”

  If he wasn’t your boss, you were sure that Tony Stark would be covered in bruises and broken bones for his statement. After all, you were not the personal bodyguard of the Kaiba brothers for 8 year for show. Going against your instinct to pummel the man before you, you merely continued to clean the glasses. Tony took another swig of his drink.

  “I asked you a question dammit, answer me!” He slammed the glass on the bar top, spilling the expensive scotch.

  As gently as you could, you wiped away the mess before replying, “Apologies sir, I assumed that your question was rhetorical. I had in fact considered going back to bartending after my term with Mr Kaiba was terminated but I was apparently overqualified for the job.”

  Kaiba, the name rang a bell somewhere, Tony groggily thought. Oh, right, he is the genius Japanese billionaire who turned his dad’s weapons industry into a gaming empire. Pepper had some correspondence with the man before she left, something about purchasing Stark industries’ power cells for their new line of game consoles or some shit like that.

 “Wait, you’re not local?” Tony asked, sitting up a little straighter now that his curiosity is taking charge.

  “If by local, you mean American then no sir, I’m from Tokyo Japan.”

   “Then why the hell are you here in New York?” His question surprised you and you stopped your glass cleaning. He doesn’t know how or why you ended up here, as his assistant?

  “If I may ask sir, were you not informed of the circumstances behind my employment?” Tony gave you a deadpanned look that you swore you’ve memorized by now.

 “No, of course not, do I look like I have the time to look through all the application of my assistant hopefuls?”

 Mentally, you wanted to tell him yes, he would have the time if he got his head out of his ass and himself out of his workshop, but instead you replied, “I was approaching the end of my contract for that term with Mr Kaiba when Ms Potts called to see if I could replace her as your personal assistant.”

  “And you said yes?” He asked acidly.

  You gave him a long and hard look that Tony could not decipher, your eyes were blank, but purposefully so, as if you were hiding something.

“Mr Kaiba said yes, I merely accepted my orders as they were given.”

 Tony gave you a look that demanded a proper explanation; you really were getting good at deciphering all his looks. You sighed, it really wasn’t a story that you wanted to tell.

  “Permission to drink sir,” you asked.

  Tony pushed you his glass of scotch and you downed it in one shot. The alcohol burned and you felt more ready to answer his question.

  “My main responsibility in the Kaiba household was to look after the well-being of Mr Kaiba’s younger brother and assist Mr Kaiba in any issues he may have, however as Mokuba has graduated college and Mr Kaiba is getting married, he has deemed my service unnecessary. Mistress Kisara is a capable woman and Mokuba is more than old enough to take care of himself now, he figured that it’d be a sign of goodwill for me to take over Ms Potts,” You finished with a wistful smile.

  Silence followed your intimate confession. An unreadable expression adorned Tony’s face and he reached over the bar to directly take a swig from the scotch bottle.

   “So you were abandoned too huh,” he muttered.

  “Sorry?” You snapped out of your reverie, did he just say what you think he said?

 “It’s nothing, forget it,” Tony answered with a bitter smile.

 He then motioned to the stool next to him, “Come, drink with me.”

   “I’m afraid I can’t sir, I cannot drink on the job,” you declined politely, it simply was not professional to drink with your boss.

  “It’s 4 fucking am in the morning, way past your office hours, now drink with me, it’s pathetic to drink alone,” Tony insisted.

  With a defeated smile, you moved to sit next to him, “I was told that I have no office hours.”

  “Then I hereby decree that drinking with me is part of your job scope. Now make me that coconut milk cocktail you made the other day,” he ordered.

  You chuckled softly and walked back behind the bar again. Alright, so your boss was a demanding bastard, but perhaps he wasn’t as bad as he seems.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From then on, drinking together on Friday nights became a tradition between you and Tony. He would bitch about his board of directors, Nick Fury and other individuals he deems inferior while you listened and made drinks for the both of you.  It had become so routine that you had left his Saturday mornings clear for him recover from his hangover. Today was yet another Saturday and you stood, by his bedside, bacon sandwich and banana smoothie in hand.

 “JARVIS, turn blinds on to 10%.”

 “Certainly, Ms (l/n),” the AI replied and tiny bits of sunlight filtered into the room.

Tony stirred, “Pepper, it’s too early and I’m hung over.”

“It’s (f/n), sir and it’s nearing 1pm. You’d be less hung over if you eat.”

That said, you sat down the tray on the night stand and waited patiently for the billionaire to wake.

  He sat up, groggy and topless before squinting at your form.

  “You know, I’ll never understand how you do it. I could have sworn that you matched me shot for shot and drink for drink last night and yet you are never hung over the next day,” he paused to take a bite from his sandwich and a sip of your hangover remedy, “Not that I’m complaining, I don’t know what I’d do without you in the mornings.”

“You’d probably sleep in until your liver has flushed all the alcohol out of your system,” JARVIS replied for you and you giggled.

  You swear that AI is too human for his own good.

 “Indeed I will JARVIS.”

  When did it happen, Tony mused, when did he become so reliant, so dependent on you. He had been so adamant that you will never replace Pepper and yet here you here stepping into her shoes, doing better than she did and making him wonder how he would manage without you.

“Don’t worry Mr Stark, you’ll manage without me, people always manage without me,” you said with a bittersweet smile.

  It’s one of those things that you always do when he makes comments about how important you are, he has never confronted you about it, just like how you never confront him about that split second falter when he wakes up and realizes that you aren’t Pepper Potts.

 “Tell me I have nothing on today,” Tony whined.

 “You have nothing on today sir,” you replied smoothly and was awarded by a billion dollar smile from Tony.

  Inwardly, you mused. Tony Starks is a handsome man, he looks handsome whatever he does but when he smiles that genuine brilliant smile of his, it makes him almost too beautiful to look at. You were proud that you could make him smile like that; you were also worried that his smile had such an effect on you. Had JARVIS been keeping track of your vitals, he’d know that every single time Tony smiles at you, your heart rate would race. A comfortable silence lapsed as Tony continued eating and you went about tidying up his room, before Tony bombarded you with his random question of the day.

 “Why do you always call me sir?” He asked.

 “I was told that you don’t like being called Mr Stark,” you answered.

 Tony nodded absentmindedly, indeed, he always felt like people were calling his dad when they say that, “I thought I gave you permission to call me Tony though? Cause really, I sometimes think JARVIS became female when you call me sir.”

  A smile played on your lips when he said that, it was the kind of smile that troubled mothers get when their children ask a particularly hard question. Tony thought it looked sexy on you, though he’d probably never admit.

 “I’m from Japan sir,” you place extra emphasis on the word ‘sir’ just to tease him, he gave you an expectant look, “I find it highly uncomfortable to call my boss by his first name, it’s not in our culture to do so,” you finally answered.

At this Tony sat up straighter, like he always does when something piques his curiosity. “Then what did you call your ex-boss then?”

  “Master,” you stated simply.

  “Master? As in like master master?” Tony’s eyes were almost bugging out at this new piece of information.

  You understood his bewilderment from his point of view, the westerners had long since ceased calling anyone Master except in movies and dramas, but the Asians never quite got that far in abolishing their social manners.

  “Well, more like Master as in ‘sama’. It’s an honorific we give to anyone highly respected and or masters of a household. So Mr Kaiba would be Kaiba-sama and Mokuba would be Mokuba-bocchama, which sort of means little master,” you explained.

  Tony waved off your long explanation, “Meh, different language different terms, but it’s still MASTER. Hm..Master Tony, kind of has a ring to it doesn’t it? Could get used to hearing that, preferably in bed,” he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at you.

  You choked back a laughter at his not so subtle advances, evidently meant to be a joke, “Well, _Master_ Tony, you are in bed now and I would advise you to get out of it so that you will not be late for your fund raiser tonight.”

  At this, Tony pouted, “I thought you said that I have nothing on today!”

  You picked up the now empty tray from the nightstand and replied with a grin, “I said you have nothing on today but I didn’t say anything about tonight,” and walked out. Behind you, you could hear Tony groaning under his breath about smart-ass assistants.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You weren’t quite sure if Tony knew that you lived in Stark Tower 10 floors down, in a small apartment that Ms Pepper Potts had set up for you. With a 24 hour notice, you barely had time to pack much less rent a house, but Ms Potts had insisted that you take over her ASAP and so had went the extra mile to set up a little pad for you in the building. You had found the rush a little strange and given Tony’s reactions whenever Ms Potts is mentioned, you would bet good money that something had happened between the two. But that isn’t your concern right now, no, your concern was the mountain of emails that Mokuba had sent to you since your relocation. Out of your anger at suddenly being relocated, you had not replied a single one of them. It wasn’t fair of you; after all, it was the older Kaiba that decided your termination not Mokuba, so you shouldn’t take it out on him; but you were mad that Mokuba hadn’t even protested.

  You and Mokuba were close in age, only 4 years apart, which was the main reason why Kaiba was willing to hire you, young as you were, at the age of 18 to guard his younger brother. Mokuba took to you like fish to water. At 14, he was sick of having large men in black suits following him around and you were the breath of fresh air that he desperately needed. You had practically grown up with him; you were with him when he had his first crush, you were with him when you first snuck out drinking, you were with him when he was first dumped and you were with him when he secretly got a tattoo for his 18th birthday. Kaiba was even kind enough to put you through college with Mokuba so that you could protect him while he was at school, seeing as you dropped out of college. Mokuba was practically your brother and he just let you leave like that.

  You knew that you had abandonment issues of course, it wasn’t a terrible sob story, but since birth your mother, a famous scientist, had pretty much left you to your own devices, hiring nannies when you were young, sending you money when you were older, she was never around, not that you blamed her. You were an exact copy of your father, the man whom she loved more than life itself, the man she lost to her best friend and the man she slept with during his one night of drunken debauchery. It probably broke her heart to see you and you were grateful that she decided to have you at all. But the lack of parental supervision also meant that you had made many stupid mistakes in your youth, like getting together moving in with a guy who took all your money to buy his way into cage fights, forcing you to work in bars for a living throughout high school just to support the both of you. You were only grateful for one thing and that was him teaching you how to fight but he left you the moment you became better than him and that hurt, you had only trained as hard as you did to help him, but his fickle male pride obviously couldn’t handle it. The same couldn’t be said for his conscience however as he took all your savings with him as he left, but you know that you were the stupid one, you should never have given him access to your account in the first place. But you had learnt from your mistakes, fought your way to the top in cage fights, gotten noticed by one Seto Kaiba and found a home through all the mess. Only to be passed on like some expired furniture 8 years down the road.

  Shaking your head to clear all the unhappy thoughts, you randomly opened an email from Mokuba, it read

_“Hi (f/n), hope you’re doing well. I miss you but I guess I have to learn to be on my own you know? Can’t always rely on you and my brother. I’ve recently gotten an internship with a local kindergarten and the kids love me. I’m really glad that you convinced me to stick to my dream of becoming a teacher. I’ve managed to bag myself a girlfriend (see attached picture) too! The press has also begun to leave me alone now that they know that I’m not going to take over Kaiba Corp for good. Speaking of Kaiba Corp, WE HAVE A NEW MINI KAIBA ON HIS WAY! Who knew Nii-sama would work so fast huh? Kisara-nee is pregnant with a honey moon baby and I’m almost sure that Nii-sama is making a 50 year plan for his kid to become the next mini Seto. It’s alright, I’ll be the cool uncle to keep the kid’s feet on the ground. Well, as you can see, life is going quite well here and I hope that you’re finally making headway in your own life. As much as I love having you around, I always felt bad that your life revolves around us when you deserve to have your own life, you know? I guess that’s kind of why I let Nii-sama let you go, you deserve freedom and happiness (f/n) and you’ll always be that sister I never had. Love, Mokie.”_

You sighed, you could never stay mad at the kid, he always means well…

  “Ms (l/n), I believe that you are wanted upstairs,” the cool voice of JARVIS interrupted. You checked the clock, it was 2am, what was your boss doing back so early (and calling for you?). You decided that you can always reply Mokuba later and trudged upstairs in your pajamas. This had better be good.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Turns out it was good. For Tony that was, it was a complete nightmare for you. You entered the living room only to see a naked Tony and two naked girls cat-fighting on the floor.

“…Uh?” was your intelligent response.

“Oh thank god you’re here!” Tony exclaimed, not tearing his eyes away from the tangle of naked bodies on the floor.

“Do I even want to know,” you asked, forcing yourself to keep your eyes from wandering over your boss’ naked frame.

“Well, you see I bought Trassie home and her friend Jessie decided to follow so I thought it was going to be this awesome threesome thing,” Tony started, eyes still glued to the naked cat-fight before him.

You hummed in response, “and?”

“Well, it turns out that Trassie wants me to herself and so does Jessie so they’re fighting over me now.”

“Ah yes, every man’s wet dream.”

“I know,” Tony tossed you a smirk as you rolled your eyes.

 “So why am I needed?” You asked.

“You see-“ Before Tony could reply, one of the girls made a lunge for his unprotected crotch and the second one followed, Tony quickly side-stepped the attempt and the cat-fight continued. Tony placed his hand on his chest and heaved a sigh of relief, “Almost lost my balls there. Well, you see, that is kind of my problem. Fighting women just can’t treat mini-Tony right, you know what I mean?”

  No you really didn’t, and you let him know that you didn’t, “So you called me up here in the MIDDLE of the night just so I can kick two bimbos out before they accidentally castrate you with their over-zealous libido?”

Tony nodded with a cheeky smile, “Yea that sounds about right.”

You mentally reminded yourself that he was your boss and that manslaughter was illegal, then you looked at the tangled limbs on the floor again, “And you wouldn’t toss them out yourself in all your Iron Man glory because…?”

“Because I don’t hit girls,” he replied matter-of-factly.

You closed your eyes and counted backwards from 10 then opened them again. You really needed more calming exercises, you thought to yourself, and then you wondered if you were invisible to women since on both counts, Tony Stark’s latest bunnies failed to notice you in their presence. Which means you had to make yourself known and which means getting messy. You swore you weren’t being paid enough. You clapped your hands together and cleared your throat loudly. The two bimbos on the floor stopped what they were doing and stood up to glare at you, at this juncture, you noted that Tony has not made any move to cover himself up and instead leaned back on his couch to enjoy the soon to be ‘show’.

  “Who are you?” One of the banshees asked with one hand on her unclothed hip.

Gods, does anyone in this room have any modesty?

“Yea, who are you?” Banshee number two mirrored.

You blinked, why can’t Tony ever bring home intelligent women, no wait, he did, once, and she was even more of a bitch to get rid of.

“I am Mr Stark’s personal assistant and I am here to inform you that Mr Stark’s entertainment for tonight will have to be cut short as he has an early meeting tomorrow and is required to get his sleep,” you stated and then looked at the girls expectedly.

They looked at each other, and then back at you, “What’s that got to do with us?”

You wanted to bang your head against the wall but decided that it wouldn’t do to deplete any more brain cells than you already have by talking to these two. “You two are disturbing Mr Stark’s sleeping time which will adversely affect his performance at his meeting tomorrow morning, therefore I have to ask you to leave, now.”

But of course, impudent bimbos will be impudent bimbos, and the conversation just had to end with them saying “Make me.”

  You knew that Tony probably wasn’t expecting this but you walked over and heaved the two girls over your shoulders like sacks of potatoes and threw them into the lift along with their belongings and pressed the down button.

“JARVIS,” you stated calmly.

“Yes mam?”

“Do me a favor, lock the lift, call a cab and make sure those two blondes get to the lobby and preferably out of the building.”

“Certainly mam,” JARVIS replied.

 “And quit it with the mam,” you growled.

“Of course, mam.”

 You rolled your eyes at that, stupid AI with a Stark sense of humor. Speaking of which, Tony stood up and clapped, “Now, I certainly wasn’t expecting that.”

“Neither was I, but when Tony Stark gives you squabbling bimbos, you gotta throw them out likes sacks of potatoes.” You sarcasm was blatant but it was late, you were tired and you honestly had no more energy to keep your temper or sarcasm in check, much less your professionalism.

“Now that’s a side of you I’ve never seen,” Tony commented, still naked as the day he was born and completely unaffected.

You would have asked him to cover up if you hadn’t known that he’d tease you about being affected by his state of undress.

“And if you keep calling me up to deal with stupid shit, you’ll probably wish you’ve never seen this side of me,” you snapped. Instead of getting intimidated like Mokuba does when you get irritated, Tony laughed.

He stood up and steered you towards the bar, “You know what, I think you need a drink. I’ll have you know, I make a mean whisky on rocks.”

You chuckled softly, you just can’t win against Tony Stark, “You know, you’re impossible.”

He replied with a saucy wink, “That’s why you love me,” looking straight into your eyes as he said that, making your heart skip a beat.

  You quickly recovered by grabbing the glass of whisky off the counter and hid your defeated smile behind the drink. Love? Yea, you’re in love with this impossible hunk of a man. 


	2. Call me Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, except 'you'. 
> 
> MERRY X'MAS!!! Hope you guys like this present =P

  Growing up, Tony never really knew what it felt like to have a family. Sure, he had a dad and there were butlers but said father was never around and said butlers made JARVIS seem human in comparison. (Granted, he programmed the AI that way.) For a brief moment, he had assumed that waking up to Pepper in his arms, Pepper waking him up or just having Pepper anywhere in the general vicinity of his house was what having a family felt like.

  But now, sitting at the kitchen counter, watching you flip pancakes for him, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Here you go sir, your breakfast for dinner,” you said as you passed him a stack of pancakes covered in Crème fraîche, honey and an assortment of berries.

  It had been a day from hell, with 2 board meetings, one product launch and a SHIELD meeting to top everything off, but it wasn’t Friday just yet and he didn’t feel like drinking unless you were too. Conclusion? Tony Stark needs his comfort food. Tony eyed you again as he dug into the delicious pile of pancakes, though still dressed in your work attire; you had an apron over-top and were humming to some random tune as you cleaned up the kitchen.

For the first time in his life, Tony truly understood what domesticated means, “You know (f/n),” he asked. You stopped your work to look at him, pausing to wipe your hands on your apron as you did, “Yes?” “Has anyone told you that you’d make a really good housewife?”

  You almost choked, you, a housewife? You, who made a living out of bashing people’s heads into walls, a HOUSEWIFE!? You blinked again and again, opening and closing your mouth trying to form a decent reply but nothing came to you. You had thought of going into professional assassination but a home-maker?

  Tony watched your mini-freak out session with amused eyes, “I take that as a no.”

“Well…uh…” you spluttered, “No sir, no one has told me that I’d make a good housewife, I don’t think anyone actually sees me as a female much less marriage material,” you concluded. If Mokuba was here, he’d probably laugh his ass off, heck, if even Kaiba was here, he’d be smirking his face off. You spent your teenage years cage fighting for god’s sake.

  Inwardly, Tony disagreed. You probably spent time in poor company then, he thought. Because he definitely considers the woman before him marriage material; you cook, you clean, you make sure he sleeps on-time and wakes up on-time and most importantly, you listen to him complain about his days and do all of that without even a strand of hair out of place. Speaking of which, Tony eyed you again, this time warily. How is it that you’re always so composed? You were right next to him throughout the day, dealing with the press, the board and even Nick Fury but unlike him, your hair was still neat, clothes still crisp and face completely unmarred by exhaustion. Come to think of it, you are with him every single day, sometimes working even when he isn’t, you don’t leave until he goes to bed but you are always there when he wakes up. Even on the days when you guys drink. Are you even human? The only time he has seen you ruffled was that night when you threw the two girls (what were their names again?) out, but even then, in your pajamas, you were still collected and composed, before a naked Tony Stark nonetheless. (At which point, he starts feeling a little depressed at the fact that you weren’t affected by his manly charms.)

  You watched on in amusement as your boss went through some sort of emotional gymnastics, from confused to annoyed, from amused to depressed.  He stared at you a second longer before his eyes lit up in some sort of epiphany.

“(f/n),” he asked in all seriousness.

“Yes, sir?” You cocked your head to the side, what’s gotten him so serious suddenly?

“When was the last time you had a day off?”

You stared at him, trying your best not to give him the ‘are-you-stupid’ look. “I don’t have off-days sir, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever had one.” you replied. And in all honesty, you never had.

“What!? That’s inhumane!” Tony stood up almost suddenly, knocking his stool backwards. “It’s another one of your weird Japanese thing is it? How can anyone not have days off!?” He all but exclaimed.

 You chuckled, you just couldn’t help it. Here was Iron Man, Tony Stark being freaking out about off-days of all things.

 “No no,” you said between your chuckling, “Of course we have off-days in Japan sir, I just never had them due to the nature of my job,” you explained.

After all, there is no such thing as off-days for bodyguards. You lived, ate and slept in the Kaiba mansion, spent all your time next to Mokuba; the closest you ever got to an off-day was when Mokuba decides to bum at home at do absolutely nothing. In which, both of you will probably end up playing the latest computer game, with you getting your ass handed to you by the younger Kaiba.

  Tony gave you a deadpanned look and put his hands on his hips, “well here in the United States of America, Personal Assistants get off-days. Even I get off-days! So here’s a direct order from me to you, take a day off tomorrow. If I see you here tomorrow morning, then I’m firing you. And I’m serious about this.” He gave you his serious face to emphasize his point.

 You nodded absent mindedly, mentally holding back a retort on how Tony doesn’t take days off, he just skips out on his schedules whenever his mood suited him.

 “I mean it, (f/n), take a day off, you deserve the rest. JARVIS can take care of me for one day. Right JARVIS?”

“Of course sir, I’ve already taken the liberty to cancel all you’re appointments tomorrow, seeing as Ms (l/n) wouldn’t be around.”

Tony then proceeded to give you the ‘see, I told you so’ look. You briefly wondered if he caught JARVIS’ subtle insult towards him but shook it off. You had a day off to deal with, whatever will you do?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Tony woke up the next day morning, well afternoon to be accurate and wondered for a moment why there wasn’t a piping hot tray of food waiting for him on his night stand. Then he remembered that he gave you the day off and had to look after himself for the day. He can do that, he’s a big boy, and half the day is over already.

“Morning sir, it’s 14 38 in the afternoon, weather is fair, would you like to order take out sir?”

 Tony winced at JARVIS’ suggestion, take-out, he hasn’t had take-out since he had you. You had spoiled his palette with your wonderful cooking and short of Michelin restaurants; he really wasn’t looking forward to eating anything that wasn’t made by you. (Yes, even Shawarma, actually, you make a really mean Shawarma.)

“Uh…you know what, I’ll just have coffee for now.” JARVIS replied affirmative and proceeded to put in coffee through the espresso machine in the kitchen.  

  Sitting down at the coffee table, with his finished coffee, Tony was bored. He had read the day’s paper, watched the (in his opinion) rather retarded news, he was ahead of schedule in his personal projects and there was nothing for him to fix. He had tried working in the workshop, but being so used to having your presence there (and not having some sort of crisis forcing him to improve his suit), he couldn’t do even 5 minutes of work without his mind wandering back to you. Heaving a sigh, he gave into his temptation to contact you.

 “JARVIS, call (f/n) will you.”

 “Sir, would you like for me to buzz her up instead then?”

Tony’s head snapped up at this, “What do you mean?”

“Ms (l/n) is currently in her room here in Stark Tower, I just thought that it would be more logical to page her through the intercom than call her on her phone.”

Tony narrowed his eyes, he gave you a day off and you were in your ROOM?

“You know what, hold that thought. Did (f/n) go out today?” He asked.

“No sir, she has been in her room since last night,” JARVIS replied dutifully.

“Where did you say her room was again?” Tony asked, a plan forming in his head.

“I didn’t, but Ms (l/n)’s room is 10 floors down, at the left most corner from the lift lobby.”

“Thanks JARVIS, you’re a real pal.” And with that, Tony Stark charged out of his room like a man with a mission.

  Unaware of the impending doom headed your way, you were lounging on your bed, listening to lounge music while scrolling through the photos Mokuba had sent you. Your biological clock had woken you up at exactly 6.30am this morning, but seeing as it was your day off, you made a conscious effort to sleep in. 3 hours and many toss and turns later, you gave up and went to freshen up and make yourself some breakfast in your tiny kitchenette. You took a quick glance at the clock on your laptop again, it was 3 in the afternoon, you still had over 7 hours to kill before your stupid day off was over. You sighed; who knew off-days could be so stressful? Just as you were about to put your laptop away and nap the day away, the door to your room was rudely knocked open and in came a cantankerous Tony Stark.

  “I can’t believe you stayed in your room ALL DAY! It’s your day off! Why aren’t you going out? Go out! Go shopping! Go visit the museum, I don’t know, do SOMETHING besides holing yourself up in your room! Where are your friends! You should call them and have a girls’ night out or something!”

You watched Tony’s agitated rant with an amused eye, you know he was being serious but he was so adorable when worked up.

“With all due respect sir,”

“Tony.”

“What?” You looked at him confusedly as he interrupted you.

“You’re off work right now, so I’m Tony. None of that sir crap,” he told you sternly.

You sighed before continuing your sentence, “As I was saying, _Mr Stark_ ,” and you saw Tony glare at you but you continued, “I have no need for new clothes, I have already been to every museum in the city with you for various events and parties and lastly, all my friends are back in Japan,  I’ve only been in this country for a little over 4 months and every day of the 4 months has been spent with you, not that I’m complaining of course. Thus the closest thing I have to a friend here at the moment is you, well and JARVIS, but I’m not sure if he counts.”

“I don’t.” JARVIS supplied.

You shrugged to prove your point. 

  Tony stood still, digesting your reply, he suddenly felt like he had said something he shouldn’t have and awkwardly, he tried to redeem the situation, “Come on now, you must have SOME friends, how about that guy who was hitting on you at the ball last week?”

You sighed, albeit good-naturedly, “Firstly, that guy, was an over-zealous reporter trying to weasel information on you from me. And second,” you paused for effect, “it’s not like you’re much better off Mr Stark. Where are your friends? Ones who aren’t trying to get into your pants and bank account.” You questioned.

Tony glared at you, though with no real venom, he just doesn’t like having the last word taken from him. And then, suddenly, as if he had just had a brilliant idea, he broke into big grin, “I’ll have you know, I DO have a friend. And since you so helpfully pointed out that I’m your only friend in this big city, I hereby declare that we are going out now to have some friend bonding time!”

   You opened your mouth to correct him, he was the closest thing you had to a friend, but he is still your boss, however the excited smile on his face shut you up. You could just imagine how crestfallen he’d look if you rejected his offer. Shaking your head slightly, you stood up to nudge him out of your room, “in that case Mr Stark, I’ll have to ask you to leave my room so I can change into something more appropriate.”

  Tony raised an eye-brow and you waited for a perverted comment, he surprised you however by walking out willingly, “Sure thing, I gotta give Bruce a call anyway. I’ll see you in the garage in 5! Friend!”

  As Tony walked off, a slight frown marred both your faces because deep down, when he said the word ‘friend’, it had felt wrong to both of you.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Tony realized, as you walked through the door of the garage that he has never seen you out of your office wear and now that he has, he would like to take all of your working clothes and burn them. Walking into the garage, you caught Tony’s stare and can’t help but feel a little self-conscious. Was something wrong with what you were wearing? It was a cool day but it was still summer and so you had opted for shorts and tank top along with a pair of Nike sneakers, nothing too fancy, much less to stare at. You shrugged his stare off, perhaps he just wasn’t used to seeing you out of office attire, and you were half right.

  You were wrong about the other half because Tony disagreed; there was a LOT to stare at. For starters the shorts showed off your toned legs, how could he have missed those legs he will never know. Then there were those hips, your shorts were modest but shorts are, well, short and they hugged your hips like nothing else. A crude part of Tony’s mind commented loudly that he’d tap that perky ass any day. Tony also realized that you probably work out because that tank-top clung to you like a second skin and yet there was only a toned waist and stomach. Being Asian, you were less endowed in the chest department than he was used to, but that was cool, Tony Stark was an ass man all the way anyways. Tony also couldn’t help noticing that you were looking, well…younger.

  “I know it’s rude to ask a woman about her age, but how old are you?” Tony asked as you got into his Audi convertible.

“26,” you answered and Tony did a double-take. He had bedded younger of course (but still legal, mind you), but given the way you act, he would never have guessed that you were over a decade younger than him and in your casual get-up, you looked even younger.

You caught his shocked stare and told him, “Asians tend to look younger to Caucasians apparently.”

Tony nodded and switched on the radio (well, more like blasted really) and drove. Tony Stark can’t believe that he hasn’t noticed this hot piece of ass following him day in and day out and he will never forgive himself for that.

  He pulled up at a quaint café, it looked cozy but was a stark contrast to the usually ostentatious Tony Stark. You looked at him quizzically and was graced with a reply, “My friend doesn’t like stuffy places.”

 You were about to ask him who his friend was until you saw a man with slightly greying hair, dressed in a polo-shirt and jeans wave at the both of you with an all too familiar face.

“Dr. Banner!” You greeted.

“Hey Bruce!” Tony poked the other man as part of his greeting, earning himself a good-natured glare.

“Hi Tony and…Miss…? I don’t believe we have met,” Bruce looked at you then up at the sky, trying to remember when he met you.

You laughed, “(l/n), and we haven’t Dr. Banner, but it is my job to know everyone Mr Stark works with.”

Bruce hmmed in response, feeling a little uneasy, do you know about his green problem? But he trust Tony enough to not doubt his judgment in character and therefore, he asked instead, “She is different from your usual female company isn’t she, Tony?”

You cut in before your boss could get a word in, “Oh no, please don’ be mistaken. I’m Mr Stark’s new Personal Assistant. He is just being kind and showing me around on my day off since I’m new here.” “I see,” Bruce nodded understandingly.

Tony gave you a mock look of hurt, “I thought I was your friend (f/n), how could you!”

You rolled your eyes at him and gave him a rough nudge, “Whilst I’d rather not have you make a scene at all, but seeing as you are you and that’s impossible, can we please take the drama inside the café?”

Tony pouted and Bruce relaxed, perhaps this little outing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Give two scientists unlimited supply of coffee and tea and an entire afternoon and you’ll get a long (and I mean long) scientific discussion on atoms and radiation. And though you worked for Kaiba, science had never been your forte, thus you stayed quiet for most part and sampled the café’s large collection of cakes instead. So, when Tony decided that he needed a toilet break, you and Bruce lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

  “So, Ms (l/n),” Bruce started, with a worried look in his eyes.

You decided to take a plunge, “I know you’re the hulk Dr Banner.”

Bruce looked at you in shock for a brief moment due to your bluntness but the worried look receded, “I see. Did Tony tell you or?”

You shook your head, “I read your file. Sorry that came out wrong. When I took over Ms Potts, she handed me a file on the Avengers Initiative, which by the way neither myself nor Ms Potts are supposed to have.” Bruce chuckled at your admission and you continued, “So I read your file and um, I’d just like to assure you that I’m in no way intimidated by your ability to transform into a giant green titan.”

 Bruce looked into your eyes to see if you were lying, many people tended to lie to him about this, the only person he knew who was genuinely unafraid of him was Tony, but Hulk liked Tony so Bruce had nothing to worry about either.

  “Why not?” Bruce asked.

 You smiled, “This is probably going to sound like utter bullshit to you, but I read your file and it states that you only transform when a number of conditions are fulfilled. You’d have to succumb to uncontrollable rage, have your heart beat accelerated to a certain level that is not caused by physical exertion and or be in mortal peril or knocked unconscious. Under normal circumstances, the environment simply isn’t conducive to facilitate your transformation. Even if it did, as Hulk, you’ve been known to only target your enemies and since I’m not your enemy, I have nothing to fear.” You finished with a bright smile. Bruce finally let go of the stress that he had been holding and returned your smile.

  Tony decided that he picked a really poor time to return from the gents because he caught you smiling warmly at Bruce and Bruce returning that smile, like _friends,_ close friends. Sure, he wanted both you and Bruce to make friends and get out more but something about this exchange disturbed him. The rational part of him told him he was jealous, but he had no reason to be jealous, why should he be jealous about you smiling at someone? _‘Because she never smiles like that in front of you,’_ that annoying voice in his head supplied. Tony shook it off; no he wasn’t jealous, he was just surprised that you managed to get through Bruce’s defense, that’s all.

“Well aren’t you guys getting chummy while I was gone,” Tony teased as he made his way back to his seat, trying this best to keep the acerbity out of his voice and failing.

  Being the perceptive person that he was, Bruce picked up on his tone and quickly explained, “Oh no, she was just letting me know about her opinions on my ‘green rage monster’ as you so eloquently put it.”

“Oh…That’s good then,” Tony rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

Thankfully neither you nor Bruce took the opportunity to tease him, though as it was, you felt like you had gone and done something wrong even when you didn’t. An awkward silence loomed over the table as all of you shuffled for your phones, trying to think of what to say. And thank heavens, one of you did.

“Oh, look at the time, I should get back before my cat gives me hell for not feeding it dinner,” Bruce said as he got up.

“You have a cat?” Tony asked, bewilderment apparent in his tone.

“Yes Tony, I have a cat,” Bruce confirmed, trying to downplay the situation before Tony decides to make a fuss out of it.

“You’re no fun Banner…” Tony pouted and you giggled.

“Come on Mr Stark, let’s let Dr. Banner go before his cat decides to make dinner out of him. It’s nice meeting you doctor,” You nodded towards Bruce who nodded back at you. After that it was a matter of dragging a whining Tony by the arm to the cashier and out of the café.

  “Where to now?” You asked Tony as you walked out of the café.

He shrugged, “How should I know, you were the one who dragged me out by the arm, didn’t know you wanted me in your room so bad,” he teased, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

You shook your head in exasperation, something you found yourself doing a lot when in this man’s presence, “I don’t mind going back to the tower actually, it’s almost time for dinner anyways, what do you feel like having today?” You asked.

Tony tapped a finger on his chin, contemplating. On one hand, it was your day off and you shouldn’t be cooking, but on the other hand, he really doesn’t feel like eating out.

“Can we have those Japanese rice bowl things you made the other day?” Tony finally answered.

“Donburi? Yea sure…we haven’t got rice though, actually I think the soy sauce is probably expired too…can we make a trip to the grocery store before heading back?” You asked as you mentally ran through what was in the pantry.

Tony grinned as he opened the car for you, “And you still say you’re not housewife material.”

  You probably shouldn’t have, but it was your day off and Tony was just asking for it. You whacked him not too gently in the stomach.

“Only if you’re looking for domestic violence,” you stuck your tongue out at him and quickly dove into the car.

You probably shouldn’t have said that however as Tony slid into the driver’s seat and grinned smugly, “Who says I’m the one you’re marrying?”

 You bit back a groan as the car drove off.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Grocery stores and delis in Japan were delicate affairs, stepping into Dainobu, you wondered how many other Japanese immigrants got a culture shock at the gritty layout of the small Japanese deli. You by-passed the wilting daikon that probably travelled half way round the world to be sitting in this small cooler and walked towards the shelf housing sacks of rice.

Without turning around, you barked in a hushed tone, “Quite staring and poking at stuff!”

Tony quickly strolled over to where you were two hands up in an ‘I-surrender’ pose, “I didn’t touch anything!”

 However, fate had it that whatever Tony had just poked fell off the shelf, and you rolled your eyes.

“Just stick close to me and try to not make a scene,” you growled.

It was a lost cause you knew of course, wherever Tony Stark goes, there is bound to be a scene. As it was, many of the shoppers were pointing and chattering in hushed tones in your direction. And Tony, being Tony, unabashedly waved back and blew kisses all around. You contemplated about throwing the sack of 5kg rice in his face but decided against it, it’d be a waste of precious grains. Instead you pulled at one of the smaller packs of rice and popped it in the basket you were holding.

  You’ve got the ponzu sauce, the potato, the carrots and the pork loin, along with some soy and condiments that could be stored for future use and was good to go, which meant only one thing,

“Come on Mr Stark, time to get out of here,” you tugged his wrist along as he waved once again to his fans. At the counter, your wondered if it would have been smarter to leave Tony where he was.

“Oooo, can I get this? How about this! Oh wow, soda with a marble in it! I need to get myself one of these,” Tony affirmed as he placed 2 bottles of Ramune on the table.

 The elderly grandmother, obviously Japanese, sighed impatiently at the counter, muttering something about kids these days under her breath.

“Sorry about him,” you smiled sheepishly as you apologized in Japanese.

The grandmother immediately looked up at you with curious eyes, “You’re Japanese?”

You nodded with a polite smile. And that seemed to have opened the Pandora box as the kindly grandmother began ranting about everything in Japanese and throwing in discounts and free gifts. Tony watched the exchange, enthralled, until you bowed and thanked the old lady and dragged him from the store.

  “You really are Japanese!” Tony exclaimed as the both of you made your way back to his car.

 You opened your mouth trying to form a sarcastic remark but none came, “Didn’t I already tell you that?”

 “But you sound so American! And I’ve never seen you speak Japanese before. For all I know you could be from China or something,” Tony argued.

Deeming the argument a lost cause, you just kept walking, or tried to as you felt someone suddenly choke you with their forearm and something cold and decidedly sharp touched your throat.

“Tony Stark! Gimme your money or the girl gets it!”

You coughed at the declaration, the scent of alcohol overwhelming you senses as your captor opened his mouth. You deadpanned, was this man honestly trying to rob Tony Stark, the Iron Man? Oh wait, he’s drunk and high, of course he’d do something stupid.

  “Alright Mister, now don’t do anything drastic,” Tony started as he pulled out his wallet, along with bracelets that you recognized, bracelets that would summon his suit to him. “Now see here, this is my wallet, I may or may not give it to you but I definitely won’t give it to you if she gets hurt and if she gets hurt you’re going to get hurt, and we don’t want that now do we?” Tony continued his time-buying tirade.

  You sighed, out loud. Was he honestly going to use his big fancy suit that blows up tanks and shit against a common thug? You looked at Tony again and he had already put on his bracelets, you sighed. An action which alerted the poor thug.

“Why are you sighing! And you, stop whatever you’re doing!”

This time you rolled your eyes for good and Tony stopped what he was doing to look at you, “(f/n), don’t do anything stupid, I’ll get us out of this.”

  You wanted to tell him that that was your line but you didn’t want to drag out this soap opera-like scene for any longer than necessary. Instead you brought your head backwards, hard and slammed your skull into the poor thug’s face. You heard a satisfying crunch that was his nose breaking and kicked the knife on that was now on the floor away. Habitually, you grabbed the wrist of your attacker (turned victim) and twisted it behind his back at an angle that was not natural, until you heard another snap. Now in a fetal position in the floor screaming in pain, you chopped him in the neck causing him to pass out. You stood up, dusted off your hands and turned to Tony who was now staring at you as if you’d grown two heads.

  You looked back at the man and hummed, “That was a little excessive wasn’t it?” You asked as you admired your handiwork.

  He was just a common thug, not a trained assassin or body guard. Tony nodded numbly.

“Sorry, occupational hazard,” you laughed.

Kaiba had always told you to incapacitate your targets and it seemed like it had become a habit.

“You’re not another SHIELD agent masquerading as my PA are you?” Tony finally ground out, finding his voice again. It wasn’t that he isn’t used to the violence, but what you did was something he’d expect from Natasha or any SHIELD agent. You blinked in confusion before finally putting the pieces together, and then laughed heartily.

“Oh gods, no. You got it all wrong! I was Kaiba family’s personal bodyguard! So knocking people’s heads together is kind of on the job description.”

“I see…” Tony muttered as he tried to digest this new piece of information.

  You were a bodyguard. You, this little thing that looked as harmless as a bunny, were a bodyguard. That would explain how you could haul two women over your shoulder and into the lift without much difficulty.

He looked at you again, this time with a serious look in his eye, “Not SHIELD.”

“Not SHIELD,” you confirmed.

Tony then heaved a sigh of relief and nudged the thug on the floor with his foot, “Not exactly how I would have sorted it, but it works.” It seems like Tony Stark finally got his wits back.

“You’d have sorted it with a laser or a repulsor beam that would have blown up the rest of the block, I think I like my way better,” you countered, and then sighed. You’d probably have to call up the NYPD and Stark Industry’s security team to deal with the man, lest he tries to sue for medical fees and whatnot.

  “Let’s go home then, I’m starving and I want my Donmuri,” Tony said as he walked towards his car as if nothing has happened.

“It’s Donburi, Tony,” You chastised tiredly. Then you quickly covered your mouth in horror. “I mean Mr Stark Sir!” You quickly corrected, but Tony was already grinning from ear to ear. He liked the way his name rolled off your lips.

“You know, I’m not against having an ass-kicking housewife.” It took you a moment to figure out what he meant and when you did, you blushed all the way back to the Stark Tower.

 Stupid Tony Stark and his playboy charms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight I realized that it doesn't really matter if you've never watched/read Yu-Gi-Oh cause there aren't actually many, if any, YGO related plots or references...
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!


	3. Lie to yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: You know the drill, Marvel and YGO characters aren't mine. I don't own you, the reader either, but I dictate every aspect of your life in this story. Courtesy of the power bestowed upon all might authoresses. 
> 
> Jealous Tony raised his ugly head last chapter, well he comes out to play for real in this one.

It’s been 2 weeks, 2 weeks since your last slip of tongue and 2 weeks since  Tony started trying to trick you into calling him by his first name.

“Sir,” You started.

“Tony,” he cut in habitually only to be ignored by you.

 “Sir,” You emphasized, “ you have two interviews, one with the potential new CFO and another with the new receptionist of Stark Tower, then a 2 hour break before your routine test-run of the suit,” you recited from your schedule book. Tony had bugged you about using one of his personal tablets but you turned him down, whilst battery life wasn’t an issue with his creations, it somehow felt inappropriate to use anything with miniature sized arc stuffed in it.

  “You are so stubborn!” Tony grumbled from his chair in his office, completely disregarding what you’ve just said.

You raised an eyebrow at him, “Should I cancel the interviews then?” Cancel seems to be the default option for any and every item that hits the Stark schedule.

Tony spun himself in the chair, contemplative look across his face. “How about you interview the new CFO and I’ll go interview the new receptionist?”

“That’s highly illogical sir,” you pointed out.

“Oh god,” Tony buried his head into his arm. “You’re really becoming a female JARVIS!” He exclaimed in mock horror.

You giggled, “I try, sir.”

Sighing in defeat, Tony stood up from his office chair, “You know what, I’ll go get myself some feminine, human attention from our new receptionist. Who knows, I may even be able to get her to call me Tony!” He taunted.

“I’m sure you can sir, and she will probably be screaming it tonight from your bed too,” you returned with a wry grin. It was meant to be a teasing insult but it came out a little bitterer than you intended and he caught it.

  “Do I sense some jealousy there (f/n)? You know you’re always welcomed to scream my name on my bed,” he teased as he closed the space between the two of you. His nose was almost touching yours and his eyes bore into yours, you stared right back at him, eyes blank, it wouldn’t do you any good to show weakness now lest you get teased mercilessly, or worse, let your infatuation with him slip.

“I probably will,” you started and Tony got a surprised look in his eye and you continued, “if you call me up again tonight to kick girls out I will definitely be screaming your name in bloody murder,” you smirked at him. “Now sir, you have a receptionist to seduce and I have a CFO to apologize to.”

Tony threw him hands up and started whining about slave driving assistants as you gently pushed him out of the office.

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  “I wasn’t aware that Tony Stark was female,” the new CFO stated as he stood up to shake your hand.

You returned his handshake with an apologetic smile, “My apologies Mr Hugh, Mr Stark is currently held up in another meeting, but wishes for me to tell you that he has absolute faith in you and your successful track records prior to Stark Industries.” That little voice in your head all but yelled, ‘bullshit!’ at your explanation and you gave yourself a mental high-five.

The man before you chuckled, “Leon is fine Ms (l/n), and it’s alright, we all know that Tony Stark is probably busy ogling at that brunette in the lobby, his reputation precedes him. No offense, of course,” he held up his arms in defense.

   “Of course,” you nodded, trying your best to conceal your smile and failing.

You quickly pulled up Leon’s profile and read through it, Leon Hugh, 32 years old, Wharton MBA graduate, previously worked in Industrial Illusions, wait, Industrial Illusions?

“You worked for Pegasus?” You couldn’t help but ask.

“You know Mr Crawford?” Leon glanced at you in surprise.

“Well, kind of, I met him on the few occasions Mr Kaiba had meetings with him,” you explained.

“You worked for Kaiba?”Now it was his turn to be surprised, you nodded and he laughed.

“Them rich billionaire types, always has to have a weird vice don’t they?” He said and you giggled, indeed they do. Kaiba had his blue-eyes obsession, Pegasus had an obsession with his paintings and Tony, well, his hobby is playing super-hero on weekends and other off-days.

“Lets hurry up and go through so my contract so we can swap more duel monster horror stories then,” Leon motioned to the table before the two of you and you nodded. This was going to be fun.

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  Sure Kaiba had stopped dueling competitively by the time you entered his employment, but duel monsters was his life’s passion and no matter what Kaiba Corp diversifies into, the card game will always be his first love. There were variations of the blue-eyes statues and design elements throughout the Kaiba Mansion and till now, the main fountain of Kaiba Land was still the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Duel Monsters, Kaiba and Kaiba Corp, were constants in your life until recently, so naturally it was warming to finally have someone whom you could this familiarity with to talk to.

“We have already mainly diversified into Green Architecture at that point but he spent an hour and forty five minutes of the whole two hour meeting discussing if the American version of the Waboku card should be re-colored!”

You laughed at Leon’s exasperated recount. “I know what you mean, Kaiba Corp was already doing patented hardware design for Sony and Nintendo but Mr Kaiba spent a grand total of 20 minutes designing the new holo-graphic prototype just so that he could spend the rest of the night refining the curriculum at the Duel Academy,” both you and Leon exchanged looks and laughed again. How a simple card game managed to consume two genius billionaire’s lives you guys will never know. (Well, you do, having been briefed on the whole millennium items fiasco as a potential risk factor to watch out for but you were sure Leon doesn’t.)

  While you were busy chatting with Leon, Tony was getting chummy with the new receptionist. He had managed to get the new girl to address him as Tony in 2 seconds flat, which was probably a new record outside bedroom situations.

“So Tony, I think I’ve gotten the whole reception work idea down, but I’m afraid I haven’t really memorized the layout of the tower yet, it’s a really big tower, you think you could show me around?” She batted her long lashes at Tony Stark.

It was a cheesy attempt, Tony thought mentally, but he put his arms around her nonetheless, because that’s how the game works. Girls will throw themselves at him shamelessly and he will enjoy their attention, that was all there was to it.

  “Sure my dear, just let me notify my assistant about my whereabouts and I’ll be right with you,” Tony replied, then he mused. When did he start making a note to report his actions to you he wondered. He didn’t even do that with Pepper; it was probably because you would use JARVIS to track him down and threaten to deny him dinner and drinks if he kept disappearing on you. A small smile escaped his lips; you’re acting like his wife already.

“JARVIS, will you let (f/n) know that I’ll be showing our wonderful new receptionist around, so she can skip dinner duties tonight,” Tony spoke to the seemingly empty lobby. The new receptionist looked around wildly, trying to locate this JARVIS person.

“That won’t be necessary sir,” you replied in JARVIS’ stead as you walked out of the lift with Leon next to you.

  “Ah! (f/n) And the guy whose name I never knew and maybe never will,” Tony greeted with open arms. You resisted the urge to bang your head against the folder in your arms, but Leon just laughed it off.

“Hi Mr Stark, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m sure it’ll be great working for you, seeing as I’ll probably not be seeing around.” You gave Leon a sharp look at the sudden hostility he was displaying, as subtle as it was.

“That’s good then, I don’t like seeing the faces like yours around either, though I pity (f/n) for having to put up with that in my place,” Tony glanced at you with an exaggerated apologetic glance.

You groaned mentally, oh the drama, how can so much testosterone gather to generate so much drama!? You decided to put an end to this pointless exchange. “In that case sir, you wouldn’t mind if I took the evening off?”

“Of course not! You’re finally taking leave! I’m so proud of you!” Tony cheered at your request, “Request granted! Now run along and do what it is you gotta do, I have a tour to give!” He waved you off with a flourish.

  Tony Stark will probably learn to regret his rash decision because right after he turned his back on you and Leon, with the new reception hanging on his arm, he heard something he probably he wished he never heard.

“So I’ll pick you up at 7.30pm then?” Leon asked, his voice echoing throughout the empty lobby.

You nodded, “Sounds good Leon, it’s a date!”

  A date, a DATE. You were going on a date. Tony’s eyes widened as he saw you wave enthusiastically to Leon just as the lift was closing. Suddenly, the cuddly female appendage squashed against his arm didn’t feel so comfortable anymore, and his chest clenched uncomfortably at the notion of you eating with someone else. It was official, he was jealous. Why the hell was he jealous?

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  Dinner was great; Leon chose a Korean BBQ restaurant near the Stark Tower and both of you spent the evening exchanging stories during your times at Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions respectively. You even told him the full story behind your re-employment, something you’ve never done before, not even to Tony and he returned the story with his own. Turns out Leon had decided to move to New York City because his boyfriend moved here. Aand being oh so in love with his other half, he decided to leave the wing of Pegasus J Crawford and join the big bad Stark Industries. You chuckled to yourself as you thought back to the way he blushed as he mentioned his boyfriend, not unlike the way high school girls (in Japan at least) get embarrassed about their crush. The whole idea was adorable.  Your mood was ruined however as you were called up through inter-com just as you were about to get into the shower. You groaned, what the hell does Tony want now.

  You trudged up to the penthouse to be greeted by Tony, in shirt and slacks, sitting in front of the bar with a serious look on his face. You checked your watch again, it wasn’t a Friday yet; then you looked around the room. There was no girl in sight although the smell of sex lingered in the air, you shrugged to yourself, at least it was only 9pm.

“Sir?” You called out softly.

Tony looked up at you; eyes tired and then proceeded to give you a once over, “What, no dolling up for your date? Am I keeping you from a certain CFO in your bedroom?” He asked acidly.

You were affronted by the venom in his voice, but more than that you were confused, he hasn’t acted like this to you since your first day at work. Was something bothering him again?

  You rushed to the bar, worried, and took his empty whisky glass and poured him a new one, this time with Southern Comfort.

“It was just a casual dinner between friends, besides, I don’t even waste my time dressing up for your dinners and balls, why would I bother with a silly dinner? And no sir, I got back half an hour ago because I was keeping Leon from _his_ boyfriend,” you answered as casually as you could.

At your explanation, Tony perked up. “His _boyfriend_?”

“His boyfriend,” you confirmed, “but let’s make this our little secret okay?” You placed a finger on your lip and winked.

Tony nodded numbly as his mind processed everything. So it wasn’t a date _date_ you went on. He heaved a sigh of relief but then looked at you with a childish glare, “Why does he get to be called Leon but I’m sir!”

You almost dropped stabbed yourself with the ice-pick you were making round ice with. That’s what this was about? That’s what was bothering him!?

  “You’re my BOSS, he’s a fellow employee! If he was my boss, he’d be sir too!” You explained, exasperated.

“You’re on first-name basis with someone you only knew for half a day!” He countered.

“Yea well, this is America! Everyone’s on first name basis!” You argued.

“But you’re from Japan”

“But I’m in America!”

“Well in America we call our bosses by their first names too!”

“FINE! Tony. There you happy now?” You grounded out as you proceeded to swear in your mother tongue, gods what is this man’s problem!

The tension held for a few more seconds before it dissolved at Tony’s sigh, “Not exactly how I would have said it, but it’s progress,” he stated finally.

  You rolled your eyes, “Where’s your sheet-warmer?”

He jerked his head in the direction of his bedroom, “Still in there.”

“Then shouldn’t you be in there too?” You asked, it hardly seemed appropriate for him to be sitting at the bar, drinking alone if he had female company in his room.

“She passed out,” he stated plainly.

You stared at him, “passed out!? From what? Do I need to call an ambulance?” You panicked.

Tony gave you the evil eye and you calmed down. “She passed out because of me,” he stated with a lecherous grin.

 You stared at him, trying to put the pieces together, “Because of you…oh…” you trailed off as you put two and two together. Then your eyes bugged out, “SHE PASSED OUT FROMTHAT!? How is that possible!?” You spluttered.

Tony looked up at your outburst with raised eye brows, “Well I’m just that good.”

 But you continued to freak out and he caved in to his curiosity. In a matter-of-fact tone, Tony asked, “What, you never had sex so good that you passed out? ”

  You blushed at his blunt remark and thought back to the last time you had sex. That was almost 8, wait 9, years ago with your bitch of an ex. Then you narrowed your eyes at the memory, no you never had sex that good, hell, sex was never good. As far as you knew, and know, sex was what your ex demanded whenever he lost cage fights and wants to vent some frustrations. And you, stupid innocent you, gave in to his demands every time, naively thinking that it was the only way you could comfort him. All in all sex was a 15 minute affair that’s full of pain, dried blood and sweat.

“No,” you growled as the painful memory of your pathetic past surfaced, “I haven’t.” 

And just like that, the merry atmosphere vanished. You gripped the bar spoon in your hand tight enough to leave marks as you growled to yourself, you will never, ever be that pathetic again. Never.

  Tony eyed you worriedly, the anger that you were giving off felt almost tangible and he knew immediately that he had asked something wrong. He was angry at himself for upsetting you but he was even angrier at the man who had given you such bad memories. Sure, he was Tony Stark, genius playboy billionaire philanthropist and all that, but while he wouldn’t preach about love making and shit, even he knew that it’s important to make a girl feel good during sex. If she feels good, you’ll feel good too. That’s just how it works. But obviously, whichever bastard who had the fortune of bedding you didn’t know that and had hurt you. Tony mentally pledged that if he ever finds out that you were raped; he’d take his repulsor to the sorry bastard’s head and blow it sky high. You deserved to feel good, to feel loved and to be taken care of in bed. It didn’t matter if you could break a man’s arms twenty different ways to Sunday, you are a woman and deserved to be treated as one. Tony was sure that if he was ever given a chance, he’d definitely rectify your misconception in bed, until you are screaming for more or passed out from pleasure.

  He shook his head to clear the dirty thoughts and gingerly, he placed his hand on top of your clenched fists, “Hey, you alright there?”

And just like that, you were torn out of your nightmare.

“Oh, yea,” you shook your head to clear the bad memories away, “Sorry, just remembered something unpleasant.”

Tony laughed softly, “I’ll bet, you almost bent my spoon.” He motioned to the bar spoon in your hand.

You quickly let go of it and apologized, “Oh gods, I’m so sorry.”

  How could you make the rookie mistake of damaging bar equipment? They were sacred! You were about to pick up said spoon to inspect it when Tony’s hand grabbed yours. You froze at the sudden contact, beckoning your instincts to twist his wrist and break his arm to stand down. He used the chance to bring your hand before him and traced the angry red line where the spoon had left its mark with his other hand.

  “Does it hurt?” He asked, running his fingers gently across your hand.

 You shook your head, “It’s fine, I’ve had much, much worse.”

Tony frowned at your statement as he brushed his thumb over your palm in a soothing motion, “That’s not right, you’re a woman. You should be treated with love and care,” He whispered.

A part of you wanted to laugh at him and tell him to tell that to your enemies, you were a bodyguard, you’re a shield for your master and you’d bleed if it means they are safe. That was your purpose in life. But a larger part of you didn’t want to break the fragile moment and so you kept quiet and nodded shyly, enjoying what little body contact you had with him now. Your heart was racing a thousand miles per hour and you thought you were going to faint if he kept stroking your hand and looking at you with those soulful eyes. Thankfully he stopped and you started breathing again.

  And then it happened. He smiled at you, that genuine, soft smile of his that took your breath away and then he brought your hand up to his lips and pressed a soft kiss on it, eyes never leaving yours.

  You couldn’t look away, your heart was beating out of your chest and you were pretty sure you were blushing a deep shade of scarlet. Time seemed to stop as the two of you stayed in that position, until a woman’s voice broke the spell, and the moment came crashing down on you.

  “Tony?” A drowsy voice echoed and its owner followed soon after, stumbling out into the living room with only a white dress shirt on. You pulled your hand back and Tony whirled around to face his newest conquest.

“Hey babe, you’re up early.”

“The bed’s cold without you,” she rubbed her eye as she whined.

You stood behind the bar and shifted uncomfortably at the exchange.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, and then she took notice of her surroundings, and you.

“Oh nothing, I was just getting a drink,” Tony motioned to the glass in his hands.

The girl narrowed her eyes at you and you quickly twirled a martini glass in your hand, readying it for a Martini, “Would you like a drink too miss?” You asked with your ‘bartender smile’. She eyed you again before nodding and you proceeded to make her drink, trying to tune out the way she saddled up into Tony’s lap and rested her head his shoulder.

  ‘It wasn’t special’, you told yourself sternly; that magical moment was all in your head, it was just Tony being Tony. There was nothing special and you were nothing special. You were just Tony Stark’s personal assistant and that’s all you’ll ever be. The closest, yet the farthest person from him, and you’re alright with that.

  ‘Liar.’ That voice in your head said and you smiled wryly, perhaps you are, but you’re just going to have to live with it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are the love!


	4. The stupid things we do for love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the original characters and plot bunny behind this story. 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for all the kudos and comments! I'll work on my writings with them in mind and hopefully put out better work next time! Also, despite me proof-reading myself, there are probably still strange spelling and grammar errors hidden in there somewhere. Because writing at 3am in the morning isn't the smartest thing to do.

  “Morning sir,” you uttered softly as you placed Tony’s breakfast before him, AC/DC’s Highway To Hell blarring in the background.

 Tony nodded as he focused on a new design on his holographic desktop. You’ve been told that Tony Stark was a workaholic, but you never really took it to heart, until today. So far, you’ve only seen him tinkering with his suits, cancelling meetings, running off to parties or joyrides to different cities. The only time he seemed to work was as Iron Man or SHIELD consultant.

“I need to you call up the organizers from last year’s Stark Expo, also call up our suppliers, I’ve got a new project but it probably won’t work unless they’ve got the parts. Actually call up the contractors for this building too,” Tony started listing off as he focused on typing a series of complicated commands into the computer.

  “Sir?” You asked, a little unsure at where all the work was coming from.

“Oh right, forgot that you’re not Pepper,” he laughed to himself and you felt your chest clench unpleasantly at the accusation.

“Here you go, look through this, things should make sense after this,” Tony stated as you swiped a few holograms your way. You nodded numbly, still clinging onto what his last sentence; it brought up unhappy memories of the morning.

_“So you’re the stand-in,” the brunette said as she strolled into the living room, still in Tony’s shirt._

_Wordlessly you handed the girl her clothes, you had gotten very little sleep and woken up extremely early and contrary to popular beliefs, you were human and whilst you are used to running on 4 hours of sleep every day, it doesn’t get any easier._

_“What, no come back? Pepper Potts was a lot more on her game when she did this. Then again,” the girl reached across to tilt your chin up, you looked into her eye alarmed but unsure, you doubt breaking the new receptionist’s arm was a good idea. “You’re just another one of us aren’t you?”_

_You raised an eyebrow at her accusation What is she talking about?_

_She pulled her hand back sharply and continued, “Don’t think you’re anything special just because you’re his personal assistant. Bet you haven’t even gotten into his pants yet have you? Look girl, being young and pretty won’t help you. There are loads of us out there who want to be the next Pepper Potts, but landing her job doesn’t mean you’ll get her place in Tony’s heart too. You’ll never replace Pepper Potts.” She spat out venomously as she grabbed her clothes from you and walked out._

  You rubbed the bridge of your nose tiredly, what the fuck just happened?

  “(f/n)? Hello, earth to little birdie?”

You snapped back to reality as an arm was waved repeatedly before you. “Um, yes?” You looked up at Tony, unsure. He frowned as he inched in to get a better look at you.

“You alright? You look a little peaky…or did I scare you with all that?” Tony tried to joke, but somehow in the process, your pride was wounded.

“I’m fine Mr Stark,” you almost spat, “I was hired because I was capable of doing what’s on my job description.” You leveled a glare at him.

Tony quickly backed off, “Okay, chill, geez, what’s gotten your panties into a twist today?”

Your eyes softened and you quickly apologized, “Sorry, bad day.”

Tony took a seat in the chair next to yours, “Wanna talk about it?” He said with an amiable smile.

You shook your head with a small smile of your own, “No it’s fine, I’m better already. Besides, if I don’t make those calls, whose going to build your Stark Towers across the 7 continents and hold your international Stark Expo?”

Tony smiled, relieved and ruffled your hair. “That’s my girl. Go kick ass, I want my towers.”

  The rest of the day, you watched as Tony made designs after designs for his new towers. You marveled at the outline of the proposal placed before you. As messy as Tony’s notes were, this was pure genius. He was going to build Stark Towers, one in each continent (Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Middle-east) to be the centre of the year-long Stark Expo in each country. It was insane, but also insanely brilliant. The Stark Tower being completely self-sustainable means that the Expo won’t be a burden on the local government. Heck, the whole idea of giving the world’s top scientists and engineers in clean energy their personal lab and showcase space 365 days a year was insane. To top it off, Tony is even suggesting open collaboration between them and for the successful plans to be implemented in the country. Gods, this man may actually really solve the energy crisis…but he needs sponsors; and the bureaucracy to get by for building rights in different nations is going to be a bitch, hell the security for the tower and patent rights for the scientists is going to be a nightmare. Your hands flew across the keyboard as you listed down all that had to be done to realize this madman’s fantasy; if the project works out, it’s going to change the world. This was going to be exciting, exhilarating and completely surreal. Which means only one thing, the proposal for this project was going to be a bitch to write.

You need tea.

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  “Beep, beep beep!”

“What’s that?” Tony said as he looked up from his work.

“That would be lunch,” then you looked at the clock, “or dinner,” you replied as you finished up the last sentence of your work and slid it over to Tony, “Here’s the proposal for your pet project. I saved it on your personal server, in case you want to look through it, I’ve already mailed it to the contractors, suppliers and also forwarded one to your lawyer.”

“My lawyers?” Tony questioned.

“International red-tape is a bitch,” you replied. He shrugged in agreement so you continued, “I also took the liberty of emailing the proposal to some sponsors, schools and other organizations that may be interested. As big as Stark Industries is, we don’t have branches overseas so we will probably need a co-organizer in the local state.”

“Skip the boring talk (f/n),” Tony drawled as your talk started to bore him out.

  “How else am I supposed to report this to you then?” You asked, a little irritated as you just spent the last 8 hours doing nothing but emailing, calling and typing.

Tony crossed his arms, “Well, lets see. Did you call the people I asked you to call?”

“Yes.”

“Did you sort out all the paperwork that needs to be done?”

“Yes.”

“And did you do everything you think needs to be done?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’re good.” Tony swiveled his chair back to his station as you spluttered.

“But..but..don’t you need to check what I did or go over my work? Just in case?”

You saw Tony roll his eyes and mutter something under his breath as he turned to address at you, seriously. “Look, I trust you, therefore I trust you to do what is the best for me and my project. And if shit does hit the fan, then I’ll come flying to fix it,” he said.

You stoned for a moment, and then shook your head slowly with a smile, “As long as you don’t blast our sponsors with your repulsor.”

“I make no such promises,” Tony replied solemnly and you couldn’t help it, you laughed.

“Alright Iron Man, time for dinner. JARVIS needs a break too you know.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Tony answered as he got up and stretched.

  Dinner was a quiet affair as the two of you dug into the home-made pizza that has been sitting in the oven for hours on end. For a while chewing sounds were all that could be heard, proof of the level of hunger and exhaustion the two of you have built up over the day. But as always, Tony can’t really keep quiet for too long.

“So what got you in such a bad mood this morning?"

You stopped eating, unsure of how to answer his question. Should you tell him that his receptionist told you off this morning? That would just make you look pathetic though, no? Instead you countered his question with another question of your own, “Who is Ms Potts exactly?”

This time it’s Tony’s turn to stop eating. He eyed you for a moment, a myriad of emotions flickering through his eyes before it settled on indifference, “Well, as you know, she used to be my personal assistant, then the CEO of Stark Industries, until she decided to settle down and get married that is.” He shrugged and you nodded. There was something more to this story, but it seems like you would never find out.

  “Are you afraid of heights?” Tony suddenly asked. You looked up in time to see him push his empty plate away from him.

“Uh…no?” You answered, puzzled. The love of high places, according to your mother, was in your blood, and considering how often you used to climb onto trees and structures as a kid, you agreed with her wholeheartedly.

“Good,” Tony replied as he tugged you by the wrist to the balcony, “Cause we’re going flying.”

Before you could make sense of anything, mechanical arms have already assembled the suit onto Tony and a protective gear around yourself. You looked around frantically, he wasn’t going to do what you think he was going do, was he?

“JARVIS!”

 And before you know it, you were sailing through the air at the speed of sound.

  It was a quick flight, a little under two hours, and after tossing you gently (or as gently as you can toss a person) onto the ground, Tony landed with a solid thump. You pulled the helmet off your head and shook your hair out, heart beating wildly from the exhilarating ride.

Iron Man’s mask lifted to reveal the man within, “Not bad, you didn’t scream.”

A sense of irony washed over you at his comment and you simply smiled. Then you got a good look around. A patch of what looked to be flooring was beneath your feet, but around you were derelict ground, shrubbery and what looked to be a giant stuffed female bunny. You turned to look at Tony who was staring at the raging waters beyond the cliff, “Sir?”

   “Oh right, how rude of me, welcome to my humble abode,” Tony replied as he turned around and bowed with flourish. You nodded absent mindedly; at least that explains the strange rabbit.

“You…lived here?” You asked, stating the obvious. He nodded as he turned to look out the sea again.

“Yea, my first mansion, and arguably my favourite.”

“What happened to it?”

Tony shrugged and answered nonchalantly without looking back at you, “Terrorists blew it up.”

“Aha,” you acquiesced and walked to stand next to him.

Silence passed between the two of you, you didn’t know what to say and he didn’t look like he wanted to talk. After a while, he finally spoke up.

  “I’ve never been a sentimental person,” he began, and you nodded, so he continued. “But if I was, then this house would be home to my many firsts. The first time I was betrayed by someone close to me. The first time I made a new element. The first time I had a serious relationship…the first time I lived with the woman I loved…” He trailed off.

You just kept nodding, not knowing what to say, there he was, uncharacteristically showing you something so personal, so suddenly. You have never seen him so vulnerable and in a way it scared you. But the ensuing silence was suffocating and Tony seemed to have fallen into a depressed trance, so you decided to break the silence.

“So uh…what’s the bunny about?”

  You swore you heard the sound of something breaking at the pained look that flashed across Tony’s face, you immediately knew you said something wrong. You opened your mouth to take back your words but he beat you to it.

“You know, I think I am sentimental after all. I keep telling myself I didn’t rebuild this house because it just keeps getting wrecked anyways, but honestly, I intentionally  left it this way as a reminder, to leave my past behind me.” He choked a laughter and you felt the need to say something, anything, to make him feel better.

“I shaved my head once,” you started and Tony spluttered at the suddenness of it all.

“You WHAT!?”

You shrugged, “Well, not everyone has mansions to blow up.”

Tony stared at you for a second before honestly breaking down in laughter. “I so need to get my hands on photos of you bald.”

You laughed with him, that was the single most stupidest thing you ever did. Your ex had a thing for girls with long hair, and in trying to get over him, you shaved your head only to realize that in doing so, you were letting him affect your life even more.

  The laughed died down after a while and a mutual understanding was shared between the two of you.

“That bunny was meant for Pepper,” he smiled wistfully at it. “The dumbest thing I ever did I think, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

You knew that it was supposed to be a sober moment but you couldn’t help but chuckle, that was just so Tony.

“Well, love makes people do stupid shit,” you stated in between your chuckling.

“You sound like you speak from experience,” he countered and you lapsed into silence again, then nodded.

Tony sat himself down on the edge of the cliff, “I just wanted so hard to make it special, because you know, she deserved so much more than the regular branded shoes and bags.”

You sat down too and sighed wistfully with him, you knew, of course you knew. The things you do trying to please the person you love but making a mess out of it instead, “Sometimes, I still look back and wonder if I didn’t try so hard to be special, maybe things wouldn’t have blown up in my face.”

Tony looked at your sharply, stunned at your confession.

  You took a deep breath, you’ve never actually shared this story with anyone, but he showed you something so close to his heart, you felt that it was only right if you did the same.

“He was a cage-fighter,” your fingers dug into the rocky ground beneath you. The thought of him sent you into rage mode, but a warm hand on top of yours pulled you back into reality, you looked up to see Tony staring deep into your eyes, reassuring.

All your anger washed away and you smiled bitterly, “A terrible one at that. He only wins when his opponents are already badly injured or if he cheats.” Looking back, you wondered why you loved him so much. “But I loved him more than my life…just because he was willing to give me a time of his day. Gods I was such a needy bitch,” you blinked back the tears.

“I knew, he only wanted me for money and sex but gods, the prospect of someone actually needing me was enough to blind me. Someone wanted me, needed me for something, I was useful! I was good for something! And I let this idea consume me, I had to become more useful or he would leave me…” You closed your eyes as the emotions rose in you like a raging tidal wave, memories of your own stupidity and worthlessness swamped you. Self-loathing grew in you once again, remembering what a pathetic person you were.

  It was then that you felt it, the feeling of being drawn into someone’s arms, someone’s warmth. You forced yourself back into reality to find yourself enveloped in a hug. Tony kissed the top of your head and ruffled your hair comfortingly,“You’re perfect just the way you are, you don’t need to change just to become more useful. You’re a person, not a tool.” A hand reached up to wipe away tears you didn’t know you were crying and the situation finally hit you.

You were sobbing in the arms of Tony Stark, who was holding you in a comforting hug. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw his Iron Man suit disassembled by his side as he held you. You wondered if he found you pathetic too…you shouldn’t be showing weakness like this.

  Quickly, you wiped away your tears and pushed him away, “Sorry sir…I shouldn’t have…” but Tony pulled you back into his arms again.

“Don’t be stupid,” he whispered, “I was stupid once. I pushed people away when I needed help, when I was down, and I almost got myself killed. Self-loathing is a very scary emotion, it can destroy a person,” he said sagely.

 Your first reaction was to cringe, was your weakness that obvious, that readable?

But he eased your unvoiced concern, “I know that look in your eyes, I used to see it every day in the mirror,” he said calmly.

You nodded, still stiff and unsure in this intimate embrace, what are you supposed to do when you are being comforted? It was such a new experience for you, and to make matters worse, every logical cell in your body was screaming at you about how inappropriate this situation was.

  “It’s not the absence of weakness that makes a man strong, but overcoming your weaknesses that makes you strong,” Tony said as he stroked your hair.

His words eased something in you, though you knew that you probably would need to ponder over it, but with your mood considerably better, you really needed to put an end to this…whatever _this_ was.

“I never pegged you for one with sagely advice,” you said, teasing tone obvious. Tony of course, picked up on it and took that as his cue to release you.

“Oh please, I’m always sagely, you people are just too blind to see.” And with that, everything was back to normal. He got up, suit assembling itself onto him, “Come on lets go home,” you nodded and let him hold you by the waist as he blasted off.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Next day, everything went by normally. You woke Tony up with breakfast, the two of you went down to his workshop and worked some more on his project. It was then when a ‘note’ was slid to you. The ‘note’ was actually an attachment, out of the corner of your eye, you saw Tony drawing up architectural blue-prints and turned your attention back to the attachment. Opening it, you saw another massive blue-print, but it wasn’t for a tower, it was for a mansion. A sea-side mansion. You read through the one-liner comment that came with the blue-print, “For the contractors.”

 You smiled and looked up just in time to see Tony wink at you.

  This man was going to be the death of you, and you were going to enjoy it every step of the way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As usual, comments and kudos are the love!! 
> 
> Also, on the off chance that you've watched/read Air Gear, you can probably see the air gear reference if you squint really really hard.


	5. Tony's Side-story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: What's Marvel is Marvel's, what's Takahashi's is Takahashi's, what's yours is yours and what's mine is mine. *nods*
> 
> Sorry for the slight delay! Yes it' the dreaded filler!!!

  At the beginning, you were just ‘Pepper’s replacement’ and Tony was determined to make sure you didn’t become anything more than that. But as time passed, you gradually wormed your way into his heart, and now Tony Stark isn’t sure where you stand in his life anymore despite being very high up there on his (very short) list of precious people.

  To say that the first day Tony met you was a bad day was a gross understatement. The first day the two of you met was probably the worst day in his life. Just the night before, Pepper had calmly handed in her resignation and informed him that her replacement would arrive the next day morning. He wanted to scream at her, yell at her, ask her why he didn’t give her more time to prepare himself for this day. But he knew why she had done that, because if she did give him advance notice, he would do everything in his power to lock her in his house. Tony may have pretended to move on after the not-so-gentle breakup, but both he and Pepper knew better; his lingering glances and not to subtle affections were tell-tale signs. He needed her in his life, or so he thought and the blow was so sudden, one morning she was making his coffee, the next she was gone.

  Looking back, Tony agreed that he was a complete bastard to you.

  He had initially requested for Irish coffee in hopes that you would end up giving him regular coffee, which he can then dump all over you (not one of his proudest moments, he admits) for failing his order. He had then waved you off to do all of his paperwork hoping to find a mistake so that he could fire you and get Pepper back, we all know how well that worked out. After realizing that he probably will not be able to get rid of you by assigning almost impossible jobs, he decided that perhaps if he made your life miserable enough, you’d quit by yourself. So he insulted you at every turn and even let you walk in on him having sex, but nothing seemed to phase you. You always professional and polite, if not then you were at least indifferent. You were so damn perfect at everything, you were even more perfect than Pepper, and that was simply not acceptable.  Which made him wonder, why were you so determined to stay as his PA; were you another one of his overenthusiastic fangirls who thought they could become his wife, who could replace Pepper?

  Then he found out, and he regretted.

  Because he understood, he understood the need to belong somewhere when you’re abandoned, even when you’re unwanted. At that very moment, he simply could not bring himself to make your life miserable anymore. You didn’t need him to make you more miserable, you were already miserable enough as it was. He would know because he feels the exact same way.  So he decided to give you a chance to prove yourself, to gain his acceptance, and you did. You did that and so much more.

  You gave him solace.

  It started with the drinks, delicately crafted cocktails and a listening ear differentiated you from everyone around him and made him look. You never expected anything from him, you simply took everything in stride. Anything that everyone else found exasperating about him, you just accepted it as ‘typically Tony’. If he absolutely HAD to say, then perhaps the only thing you expected from him was the worst. You’d always expect the worst of him, which was strangely refreshing. Because no matter what Rhodey says, or even Pepper, there was always that innate desire for him to finally behave like a man of his stature, his talents. He should be responsible, he should be sensible, all because he is a genius billionaire. Rhodey and Pepper always saw room for improvement for him and so always expects better from him. But you, you simply didn’t care. To you, how Tony is now will be how Tony will always be. There is no need to nag at him for cancelling meetings because that’s just how Tony is. He loved that about you, you deal with all his impossibilities as they were the norm and you never complain, nag or chide. (Alright so maybe you nagged a little…and chided a lot.)

  But that’s not the only thing he loved about you. In fact the more he saw, the more he loved.

  Like that wry grin you always have when he is acting petulant, or that child-like focus you have when you’re behind the bar, the way you try to smother your smirk when he says something funny…but there were also things that he hates. Like the pain and anger that is reflected in your eyes every time he talks about how he can’t live without you, or the frozen look of horror when you remember something from your past…But if he had to pick, what Tony hates most is the idea of you going out on a date with another man. Your mysterious past is a close second, but Tony was confident he could crack that code.

  So although he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, waking up to your face first thing in the morning makes him feel like life is still worth living. And those precious hours chatting over drinks are something he will give up anything for. Tony sometimes muses if you really do feed him liquid courage during those cocktail sessions because you give him courage to face his fears and his pains and appreciate them for making the good things in life seem even sweeter. That’s why he decided to rebuild his mansion, because he didn’t want to be a coward who runs away from troubles and dismisses sentiments in fear of being hurt. He wants to prove to you that he is a man who can hold and protect you.

  Tony can’t understand the men around you, which part of you seemed strong and unbreakable to them? You were fragile, tenacious yes, but still fragile. It didn’t matter if you could bend people’s appendages against their natural direction a million different ways, so much of you were all woman. Like the way you like to hum when you cook, or the way you tuck in the tags of his shirts when you think he didn’t notice; you cry, you get scared and you most certainly can break. Tony doesn’t need his 7 PhDs to know that you are jaded and scarred and that at the end of the day you just want a shoulder to lean on. Though it certainly is amusing to watch you struggle against that desire of yours and instead act like a strong, independent woman. He supposed he has a thing for stubborn women, especially ones who are his personal assistant, mixes drinks and throws people around like sacks of potatoes. .

  So yes, perhaps Tony Stark wasn’t ready to love again just yet, but he figured, you guys have time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter, just thought it'd be fun to see Tony's side of things. Classes are starting soon (like in 2 days), but I'll try and find time to revise chapter 6 asap! 
> 
> As usual, thank you guys so much for all the kudos and comments. They really make my day! 
> 
> Happy new year everyone!


	6. Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or YGO, I do own your life-story. 
> 
> Plot progression! So I realized that the other members of the Avengers haven't been making an appearance (mainly because I struggle with their voices). Well, here they are!

  Something changed after that fateful day. Tony has started openly showing his affections for you and you are pretty much confused as hell. For example…

  “Good morning (f/n),” Tony said from behind you, his tall form towering over you as he rested his head on top of yours, his arms rested on the kitchen counter on either side of you. “That looks good, what are you making?”

You stiffened before forcing yourself to relax. Although this scenario has been replaying itself every morning for the past week, you were still not used to Tony’s closeness and would often tense up.

You took a deep breath and steadied yourself, trying to ignore heat emanating from his body to yours, “Tea is ready in the pot on the island, pour yourself one and sit down.”

  Without even looking, you could tell that Tony was pouting, “What? No coffee?”

You resisted the urge to turn around, knowing that if you did, your face would only be inches apart from his and you would most likely blush which would result in unnecessary drama, instead you stayed where you are and replied, “We’re having scones for breakfast.”

A brief moment of silence passed and you knew that Tony probably did a mental nod or shrug at your reply because he removed himself from you and moved towards the island and poured himself some tea.

  Apparently the morning quota of affection has been met as Tony had Jarvis pull up the morning news and was reading it while hacking into the Pentagon’s mainframe for some juicy new tips, you continued with your scone baking, all in all, it was a typical morning.

  “TONY!!!”

   Or not.

  “JARVIS?” Tony looked up sharply at the disturbance.

“Sir, it would seem that Mr Rhodes is at the door.”

You heard Tony mutter something like “Captain obvious” under his breathe and smothered a chuckle at his reaction, indeed, you often wondered if JARVIS was being serious or just trying at dry humor…

“TONY! You open this damn door RIGHT NOW.” Rhodey’s urgent voice rang through the room yet again.

Tony rolled his eyes and gave a cursory wave, opening the lift doors. Rhodey came storming in before the door even opened fully, decked out in uniform and all, face contorted in frustration. Before he could open his mouth however, Tony stuffed the apple lying in the fruit bowl right into his best friend’s mouth, preempting the oncoming rant.

“Good morning Rhodey my boy, now before you start, I would just like to clarify that it was not me who hacked into the pentagon and changed all their screen savers into this month’s play boy bunny.”

Meters away from the theatrics, you shook your head in grim amusement.

Rhodey spluttered, or tried to splutter given the apple in his mouth and all, and managed a glare at Tony. Struggling, he bit off the apple, chewed, swallowed then tried to start his rant, this time slightly calmer. “You…the pentagon…WHAT!?...Ugh never mind that. Tony, you can’t just re-appropriate military funding as you see fit!” He grounded out exasperatedly.

Inwardly you wondered why, after so many years of knowing Tony, he still hasn’t developed an immunity towards this man and his antics.

  “Why not? Technically, it’s my money,” Tony answered matter of factly, eyes never leaving his holographic screen.

Disgruntled, Rhodey moved his body directly into the projection, disfiguring the blue lights, causing Tony to frown and look up at him.

“Technically,” Rhodey glared at Tony for emphasis, “it WAS your money. NOW, it’s the military’s money and you can’t just reinvest it into your little projects!”

Tony gave him the ‘are-you-serious’ look while you tried to put the pieces together. While the two best friends continued to stare each other down, something finally clicked in your head. Which led you to remember what happened just last night…

_You were working on the budget for Tony’s crazy Stark Convention project, trying to cut down the red numbers in the spreadsheet when a new amendment, definitely not from you was made to the “Asset” column._

_You rose an eyebrow at the large sum of money, “Sir, I wasn’t aware that there was a sponsor donating such a sum of money.”_

_Tony just shrugged at you from his work station, where he is tinkering with a new version of the reactor, “That’s because there isn’t.”_

_You frowned, “So you just HAPPNED to have a 9-figure sum of money lying around somewhere?”_

_The dryness of your tone brought a smirk to Tony’s face, “Yup, I do.”_

_You couldn’t help it, you rolled your eyes, “I hope you didn’t rob a bank.”_

_Tony snickered, SNICKERED at your retort and an ominous shiver went down your spine…_

  Back to present day, you finally figured out where all that money came from…and why Tony snickered. He didn’t rob the bank, he robbed the bloody military. Shaking yourself out of your musing just in time to see Rhodey give in.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t believe in you, but as your connection to the military, I have to at least KNOW what crazy schemes you’re up to so that I can give my superiors a good excuse as to why money for our jet planes are disappearing overnight. You got to keep me in the loop or I can’t help you!”

  Tony grinned at Rhodey’s exasperated rant, knowing that he got the man where he wanted him. He got up, maneuvered Rhodey onto the chair that he was on and poured him a cup of tea.

“You want to know what’s on? I’ll show you what’s on. So why don’t you sit here, have a cup of tea and dig into some lovely scones my assistant is making for me while I go grab my ‘little project’ from the workshop.”

Rhodey opened his mouth to protest but gave up as Tony had already spun his heels and skipped off to his little studio.

  “I just got played didn’t I,” Rhodey muttered to no one in particular as he downed the tea.

You set the fresh scones, finished off with clotted cream and jam, before him and poured him some more tea. “I’m afraid you did sir.”

Not expecting a reply, Rhodey looked up, surprised, at you and quickly introduced himself. “Oh right, how rude of me, I’m Rhodes, but you can call me Rhodey. You must be Tony’s new assistant that I’ve been talking on the phone to.”

You wiped your hand on the kitchen towel and shook the hand that he held out to you, “It’s a pleasure to finally see you in person Mr Rhodes.”

  “So how is it working for the amazing Stark? Bet you’re ready to rip your hair out.” He asked as he bit into the scone, eyes widening at the taste of it, “This is good stuff!”

You smiled at his compliment, “Thank you sir, and I dare say that working for Mr Stark is…challenging, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Rhodey raised both eyebrows at your reply, “Oh really? You can tell me the truth you know, I’ve known him for more than a decade and I can tell you, these bald spots have Tony written all over them.”

You laughed softly at Rhodey’s heartfelt confession, “He can be difficult at times can’t he?”

“You bet…” Rhodey grunted, but quickly recovered, “So he hasn’t been giving you any trouble then?”

  You set down the last of the scones and hummed in contemplation, “Well…he has been more…affectionate as of late…” You had expected a sigh, or looks of sympathy, or even screams of exasperation, but instead, Rhodey just threw his head back and laughed.

  “Affectionate is he? That sounds like Tony alright, good to know that the guy’s finally bounced back.”

The professional part of your brain told you to close your mouth at his reply lest you look like a goldfish. Seeing your shocked expression, Rhodey felt the need to explain himself.

“He was probably an ass when you first started but you can’t really blame him. Pepper did break up with him to get married with Happy, still can’t wrap my head around that…so he probably wasn’t jumping to get cozy with his next assistant, but yea, playboy Tony is the normal Tony. So don’t be too worried about any moves he tries to pull, and if he does get a little TOO cozy, trust me when I say that kicking him where the sun don’t shine is perfectly within bounds.”

  You knew that Rhodey was probably trying to make you feel better, but unbeknown to him, he had actually made you feel worse. So all this new affections and skinship is just how Tony NORMALLY is. It’s nothing special, just like you had initially thought. A tiny part of you that was hoping it was something more shriveled up in pain and disappointment. But an even larger part of you was grasping at the seams to have your suspicious confirmed by a third party, so Tony and Ms Potts were together...you didn’t know why this piece of information upset you so…shouldn’t you at least be happy that he is bouncing back now? You spent the remaining morning brooding over this new piece of information.

  One day in the distant future, when Tony finds out that Rhodey was the reason why you shied away when he tried to ruffle your hair in compliment of your scones that morning, he would go on to suspend Rhodey’s War Machine privileges for a month, but until that day, Tony will have to continue wondering why, all of a sudden, he has somehow taken a step backwards in his attempt to court you.

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  Somehow, Tony’s ‘little’ demonstration to Rhodey about his new project resulted in all of you ending up on the Helicarrier to run over the proposal with one Commander Fury. Apparently, Rhodey needed SHILED to pull rank over his commander to approve of Tony’s re-appropriation for funding (to quote Rhodey, “I need someone QUALIFIED, to tell my boss that the outcome of this crazy plan will be self-sufficient fighter jets and bunkers.”), something Tony wasn’t happy about (to quote Tony, “Oh yes, Fury’s ONE EYE is so much more qualified than my 7 PhDs.”).

  You don’t really know how you ended up on the Helicarrier too as you obviously were not needed, but since where Tony went, you went, so here you were, sitting at the cafeteria of the Helicarrier while Tony and Rhodey sat in the meeting room with one Nick Fury.

  You looked around, bored, stirring your cup of hot chocolate aimlessly, or seemingly aimlessly. Honestly, the Helicarrier puts you on edge. Since the first time you’ve accompanied Tony to the carrier for a meeting, you’ve disliked the flying HQ of SHIELD. Not so much because it’s flying over uncharted waters over god knows what country but because everyone around you were foreign agents armed to the teeth while you were in civilian clothes and terribly unarmed, something which went against all your instincts as a bodyguard. You breathed out a sigh and prayed that Tony would finish up the meeting so you could get out of this uncomfortable situation soon, just as you sighed, a familiar voice called out to you.

“Ms (l/n)!” You looked up and saw Dr. Banner approaching you, flanked by three other individuals whom you recognized as the remaining members of the Avengers initiative…which you technically know nothing about.

  “Hi Dr. Banner, fancy meeting you here,” you got up in greeting and made room for the four new comers. Natasha, whom you’ve already met several times nodded at you, as did Steve, who has surprisingly never met you till now. Clint however eyed you warily and said nothing until Natasha nudged him slightly, you shot the female agent a confused look and she just shrugged.

  After a quick round of self-introduction, lunch passed peacefully despite Clint eyeing you whenever he thinks you aren’t looking as you discussed with Dr. Banner who has already been roped into Tony’s master plan at the early stages about the new Stark Convention proposal, but Natasha interjecting an appropriate moments and Steve nodding and eating away quietly. Finally, when everyone finished their food, Clint all but ran off with his empty tray, with Natasha following him after shooting you an apologetic look.  This earned her puzzled looks from the remaining three of you and an uncomfortable silence came to pass at the table.

  Strangely enough, it was the great Captain America who broke the awkward silence.

“So um…I’m going to train at the gym now, perhaps you two would like to join me?”

Dr. Banner expectedly passed on the offer as he needed to return to the labs to finish up some work. You however, were more than glad to take up his offer, anything to get away from all these armed latex dolls.

  You let out a sigh of relief when you got into the gym, which looked more like a boxing ring from the old days.

Steve let out a quiet laugh, “That cafeteria is suffocating isn’t it?”

You nodded, “Was my discomfort that obvious?”

Wrapping his hands in bandage, Steve shook his head, “Nah, it’s just that I know how it feels to be the odd one out in a room full of spandex and leather clad people. I try not to eat there unless Bruce or one of the others are with me.”

You nodded understandingly, despite being part of the Avengers and a hero, Captain America wasn’t really considered part of SHIELD, naturally people would shoot him wary looks as they did to you and Dr. Banner when you dine in the agent cafeteria.

  “So this is where you went,” Natasha’s feminine voice reverberated against the gym’s yellow walls, disturbing Steve and your conversation.

“Oh hey, sorry to go missing on you.”

Natasha waved you off, “It’s fine, I’m sorry about Clint by the way, he isn’t usually like that,” a look of worry marred her face when she talked about the marksman.

You smiled that she trusted both you and Steve enough to let emotions show.

“So, are you planning on sparring with the Captain?” Natasha teased.

Her good natured comment however earned her two wide eyed looks.

Steve was the first to reply, “Natasha, she’s a civilian.”

“She used to be a body guard.”

“Did Tony tell you that?” You looked at her, mildly shocked.

“Stark won’t tell me anything unless it has to do with a catastrophe threatening to end all mankind,” she countered without pause.

  You looked at her expectantly, and she replied with a grin, “We at SHIELD look after our own, and whether Stark likes it or not, he’s one of us. Naturally, anyone who is in his immediate circle gets a background check done on them.”

You wondered if the look on your face at this piece of information was as mortified as you felt. SHIELD did a background check on you? That would involve them hacking into Kaiba database which would have incurred the blue eyes’ wrath which would not be pretty…

Natasha obviously noticed your look of horror, “Don’t worry, we actually had the tact to ask before hacking into the system, the Kaiba name is pretty well known even in this part of the world.”

You let out a sigh of relief. But this led you to a whole new set of questions.

  “How long have you known?” You asked Natasha.

“Since the beginning,” she replied with a smug grin.

“How much do you know?” You changed questions, you were a bodyguard, yes, but the term ‘bodyguard’ has a very different meaning in Japan…

“Enough to be shocked that the hellhound changed owners. Kaiba doesn’t want Stark dead or anything right?”

You bit back a groan, this woman knows too much. “No no, this is a genuine change of profession,” you replied tiredly. This would explain why Clint was eyeing warily throughout lunch.

“Good to know, now Hill owes me ten bucks,” Natasha mused.

  Steve who has politely kept silent all this while finally gave into his curiosity, “Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?”

The redhead pulled out a PDA look alike device from her pouch and tossed it at the Captain, “Why don’t you look through this while me and (f/n) have some girl time?”

You cocked your head to the side, trying to grasp at what Natasha meant. It didn’t take long for you to get what she meant though as she climbed into the boxing ring and motioned for you to follow.

“You don’t mind right?” She asked.

You shrugged, “The cat’s out of the bag anyways,” besides, you were itching for a good fight. You haven’t had anything besides weights and punching bags to work with since moving into the Stark Towers.

  You were never so grateful to have worn a sports bra and shorts underneath your skirt.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Steve looked up from the file that Natasha had pulled up for him on you to look at the sparring match before him. Natasha was more flexible and refined, but you were faster and more vicious. He marveled at the two women dancing before him, Natasha outmaneuvering your strike and you side-stepping her attack, never again will he agree that women were weak and defenseless.

  Both of you were panting by now, neither of you were going for the kill and neither of you were really fighting at full capacity, for that you’d both need your equipment. You could see the joy in Natasha’s eyes as she soaked up the thrill of battle just as she could see the wild glint in yours. She would bet good money that one Tony Stark never saw this side of you, confident and in your own element and most importantly, free. It’s been a while since she’s had a good spar, the rest of the agents were well beneath her caliber and Clint always went easy on her. But both of you know that it’s time to end this friendly match as it’s become pretty clear that this is fight’s been a draw. Both of you stood down from your stances and gave each other a firm handshake.

  “Good spar,” she told you and you replied the same.

  Natasha was soon called away for a briefing ad you cooled down and got dressed while watching Steve do his training, a series of insane workouts that would not be possible if not for his inhuman stamina. The leader of the Avengers took a swig from his bottle as he took a break from his exercise and eyed you critically, as if assessing something.

“Is something a matter?” You asked.

Steve looked up and down at you, the dainty little thing and couldn’t help himself, “I thought my title was bad, but Ceberus, really?”

You cringed at the his question, “Just be glad that it isn’t Dark Angel or Shinimegami and leave it at that please…” You pleaded for him to drop the issue.

For all the creativity and ingenuity Japanese people possessed, you guys were just not known for your naming sense.

  Steve looked as if he wanted to pursuit the matter but was disrupted by the grand entrance of your boss, the one and only Tony Stark.

“Really (f/n)? Of all the places on this aircraft, I find you in the dingy old gym? No offence cap, great place.”

“None taken,” Steve gritted out and you marveled once again at how easily Tony can get under people’s skin.

“So what were you and my lovely _personal_ assistant discussing Cap?” Tony asked as his put his arms around you, face resting on the side of your head, almost nuzzling.

You stiffened once again at the contact, something Steve noticed and stared at Tony disapprovingly for, “It’s nothing Stark.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at the war hero, trying to determine if his mild bout of jealousy was called for. He could sense that the captain was hiding something (he never was the best liar), but there were no looks of attraction or anything that called for Tony’s immediate attention, so he let it go.

“Is that so, then you wouldn’t mind me taking the lady home now would you?” Steve motioned to the door and Tony grinned fully, “See you around cap!”

  As you walked out the gym, you heaved a sigh of relief that neither Natasha nor Steve gave away your not-so-secret secret. Sure, Tony knew you were a bodyguard, but you weren’t about to let him know the messier bits of your job history just yet…somehow you didn’t think he’d appreciate having the ‘Guardian of Hell’s gates, hellhound Ceberus’ waking him up and serving him breakfast every morning.

  Tony looked at your face, brows creased in deep thought and thought back to Natasha’s knowing grin and Steve’s guarded look, you guys were hiding something from him and he would find out what it was. But he would let it go for today, he has accomplished what he came here for. Fury took one look at his proposal, called him a mad-man and signed off the letter for Rhodey’s commander, under the condition that SHIELD was privy to any breakthroughs and that Tony would get the new SHIELD bunker set to be in the middle of nowhere self-sufficient by the end of the convention. Everything seems to be going well so far, now he just needs to start approaching overseas partners…

  “Say (f/n),” Tony asked with a contemplative glint in his eye.

“Yes sir?” You didn’t like the look in his eyes.

“How do you fancy a trip back to your hometown?” Now you really don’t like where this is going. “I’ve got a really interesting proposal for your ex-boss…” he trailed off with a smirk and you groaned inwardly.

 Tony Stark and Seto Kaiba in the same room?

 The people of earth…and beyond, should be afraid. Very afraid.

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OMAKE! (AKA Extra)

  Mokuba read and re-read your email, frown marring his usual gentle features. You had just informed him about you soon-to-be arrival in Domino with your new boss, and also about his proposal for the elder Kaiba. Mokuba and reacted exactly as you had when he put two and two together. On one hand, he was excited and the prospect of the revolutionary possibilities of the project and on the other hand he was afraid, very afraid of what will happen when the two geniuses’ minds collide.

  Though most people do not associate the words reckless and insane with Seto Kaiba, Mokuba knows that the elder Kaiba is one of the most crazy and reckless innovators in the technology and engineering field. Perfect examples are the holographic duel disks that were advanced way beyond their time, and the Virtual World game in Kaiba Land, the first true immersive RPG game to be made in the world…not to mention the aerodynamically impossible Blue-eyes white dragon jet that sat in the Narita Airport…just because these breakthroughs were made in the gaming industry doesn’t make them any less revolutionary or insane. In short, there is no such thing as ‘impossible’ in the elder Kaiba’s dictionary, if he can think of it, he sure as well will invent it.

  Which leads Mokuba to the proposal set before him. Tony Stark better be prepared, because the moment his brother sinks his teeth into this project, he would have unleashed a monster. Mokuba wondered if he should go stock up your personal bar so the both of you can get drunk on some quality cocktails after the soon-to-be disastrously brilliant meeting between Stark and Kaiba.

  Let it be known that some of the world’s greatest technological advances were built upon the sacrifices of one Mokuba Kaiba and (f/n) (l/n)’s livers.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes you have a cheesy title, Hell Hound Ceberus. If anyone's curious, in Japanese it's 地獄の番犬：ケルベロス
> 
> I know the plot isn't going anywhere but it will soon! 
> 
> Also, thanks for the comments and kudos. I really appreciate them! My own new year resolution now is to always leave comments and kudos when I read other people's fics. 
> 
> Until next time!


	7. Knock knock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The money-making characters aren't mine. 
> 
> Sorry for the wait! School's started and classes are intense (I guess that's why they call it an intensive course) so I haven't really found time to update. 
> 
> There are more YGO references in this chappy, so if you've never read/watched the show, just wiki quickly, it should resolve any questions/problems you have!

  You rubbed the bridge of your nose tiredly.

  Although it’s been months since your last long-haul flight doesn’t mean you’re looking forward to it. And looking back at how happy were that you at least got to fly on a private jet, you now would like to tell your past self that you were an idiot for thinking that flying with Tony Stark will be a peaceful and comfortable experience.

  “Come one (f/n)! Have a drink!” Tony called out from across the plane, waving a champagne bottle around candidly.

Just as the bottle looked as if it was about to fall out of his hands, the three stewardess around him quickly steadied him…and proceeded to sit on his lap. You tried your best to not let the jealousy that’s starting to creep up bother you, and quickly averted your eyes. You were a moment too late however as you saw, from the corner of your eye, Tony burying his face into the hair of the particularly nubile blonde number on his lap.

  Your heart clenched painfully and inwardly, you groaned. This was going to be a long 13 hours…

  Even in his intoxicated state, Tony caught your upset gaze, and was distraught.

On one hand, he thoroughly enjoyed the jealousy that you’re trying to hide; it proved that at the very least you harbored some sort of feeling for him. But on the other hand, he felt terrible to see you so upset.

“Mr Stark, you look a little tense, would you like a massage?” A stewardess asked from behind him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder. And, Tony supposed, it also helps that he’s got all these beauties to cuddle up to.

  What a guilty pleasure this was, trying to wriggle some jealousy out of you.

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  You cracked your eyes open when the pilot finally announced your descend into Narita Airport. Contrast to popular belief, you did not get a wink of sleep the entire way, not with the loud music and cheering by Tony and his little party crew. However, pretending to sleep is a much better idea than sulking and so that was what you did.

  While the plane descended into familiar territory, you felt a little excitement bubble up in you. You had not expected to come home for at least a few more years…yet here you are. As you stared out the window, nostalgia written all over your face, the previously partying stewardesses all managed to straighten themselves out in record speed and cleaned up the mess in a blink of an eye.

You watched all of this through the reflection on the air-plane window and mused, they must have done this many times. And at the thought of that, you felt your stomach clench uncomfortably again, Tony being surrounded by all these much taller, much more beautiful and much sexier women on every plane ride…

Suddenly you felt a warm weight on your head, and looked up to see Tony grinning roguishly at you, “Come on sleeping beauty, time to meet the family!”

You rose an eyebrow even though what you really wanted to do was blush and squeal at how attractive Tony looks grinning like that.

You stood up and reached up to adjust his tie, “Well then, I had better make you presentable real quick.”

His reply was a pout and you marveled how one man can go from roguishly charming to irresistibly adorable in a split second. You smothered a smile as you straightened his suit and shirt, these were after all the few times you could legitimately be this close to him.

Tony let himself enjoy having you fussing over him, it was one of the few things that he’s learnt to look forward to, one of the few things that brightens up his day. A small smile crept up to his face as you creased your brow at a particularly stubborn crease on his blazer, you’re always so adorable when you’re utterly focused on menial tasks.

“Alright, we’re good to go, do you have everything with you?” You looked up and asked.

“Nope,” was the typical Tony reply. You sighed and made the move to head to open the overhead luggage space but was stopped by Tony, “I don’t have my stuff because I had our lovely stewardess send them ahead to our ride.” In typical Tony fashion, he winked at you and you resisted the urge to smack him.

“Let’s get going then Mr Smarty pants…” You muttered irritably, still jet-lagged and exhausted from the plane ride from hell.

In stark contrast (no pun intended), Tony ushered you out the plane with spring in his step and a million dollar smile on his face.

  You tried you best to look as professional as you could, despite your exhaustion, in your business attire. Tony walked two steps before you, smug air about him in place, though today it’s been tempered by some excitement, not doubt because he will finally be meeting Kaiba. You really wished that shared his enthusiasm, but knowing both billionaires as well as you did, you just knew that this was a bad bad idea. Your non-existent belly told you so.

  “(F/N)-NEE!!! Over here!!”

The moment you walked out of the immigration office, you were greeted by the sight of a mop of messy hair, standing at 5 ft 7, jumping up and down like a mad man. For a moment, all professionalism left you as you sprinted, in heels may I add, towards the mess of black hair.

“Mokie!” You literally glomped the kid in front of you. “Dammit kid, did you grow taller again? You guys and your stupid Kaiba genes…”You complained, though your tone was fond; so you weren’t the tallest person around the block, but being average height had its merits, like ducking under tall opponents and crippling them.

  “Okay~ what just happened?” Tony strolled up to both of you, eye-brows raised.

In your absolute joy of meeting your ‘younger brother’ after so long, you replied, more animatedly than you’ve ever spoken to Tony, “Tony, this is Mokuba, Kaiba’s younger brother, Mokie, this is my current boss, Mr Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.”

  Tony noticed your slip of tongue when you called him by his first name, and immediately decided that coming to Japan is the best decision he’s ever made. He’s been trying to make you slip up for WEEKS and the moment you come to the land of the rising sun, you seem like a changed person, a happier person. And he really likes that, especially the glow of happiness that surrounds you and the spark in your eye he’s never seen.

  You just seemed so happy.

  “Pleased to meet your acquaintance Mokuba, I can call you that can’t I? Cause (l/n) here was lecturing me about how in Japan, people aren’t on first-name basis,” Tony extended his hand with flourish.

Standing next to Mokuba, you didn’t bother hiding your deadpanned expression. If anyone had lectured him about ANYTHING on the plane, it would definitely be the blonde number who was on his lap the ENTIRE time, but you let Tony have it since he didn’t catch you for your slip of tongue.   


  Being the ever sunny one, Mokuba returned the handshake with a brilliant smile of his own, “Mokuba’s fine Mr Stark, Kaiba’s my brother. I’m just Mokuba, or Mokie to (f/n) nee-chan here,” Mokuba turned to shoot you a grin.

Habitually, you ruffled his soft messy black hair. “I missed you kid,” you muttered in Japanese.

“Me too nee-chan,” he replied and Tony smartly, stayed silent during the tender moment.

“So Mokie, how did you get here?” You asked in English once again.

“By car,” he replied cheerfully and you threw him a worried glance. It’s not that Mokuba can’t drive, he can, but whether or not he’s any good at it however, is a whole other story.

“Please don’t tell me you drove here,” You almost pleaded. Last time you took his car, you guys were given a ticket because Mokuba made the highway his personal race-track, it was a nightmare. If it weren’t for the Kaiba name…

  “I wouldn’t give the kid the keys to my car even if he gave me his puppy dog eyes of doom,” a familiar voice rang behind you as a tanned arm slung itself across your shoulder.

Most people would usually sling their arms across a person _before_ they speak, however, to avoid being thrown across the room by you, the few people close to you have learned to announce their presence before initiating physical contact. This meant that the owner of the tanned arm could only be one person.

“Mal!” You turned around and hugged the Egyptian, better known as Malik Ishtar.

“Welcome home wild cat,” he returned the hug.

  “Well,” Tony cleared his throat, causing you and Malik to break up your hug, though he kept his arm around you, something which was bothering Tony, very much. Tony has decided in the past 15 seconds that he doesn’t like his ‘Mal’ guy, at all. And he has three main reasons.

  First, because this man placed his arms around you, and you didn’t flinch! Second, your smile when you saw him was so bright, Tony debated for a moment if he should wear his sun-glasses. Third, you hugged the man. You, the girl who always avoided all of Tony’s affections, actively went to HUG someone! It doesn’t help that said man, despite being in a shirt and trousers, was wearing huge gaudy gold earrings. Who wears shit like that anyways!?

  In simpler terms, Tony was jealous. And if you knew that Tony was jealous, you’d probably be thinking, ‘serves him right for giving me hell on the plane’, but you didn’t, and so, you were just a blissful ball of sunshine.

  “This is quite a welcoming community isn’t it?” Tony continued his sentence as he eyed Malik critically. What is it with those gaudy golden earrings? “And who is this gentleman?” Tony asked wearily.

  “I’m Malik Ishtar, head of security at Kaiba Corporation,” Malik replied with a smile and extended his other arm to Tony.

You exchanged looks with Mokuba and both of you grinned. Head of Security is such a euphemism. Malik’s the head of the department responsible for developing security measures, which ranges from security plans around Kaiba properties to equipment (weapons) development for you and the remaining bodyguards under Kaiba’s employment. Malik’s actual title was Head of Strategic Defence Development, but you supposed, head of security would make much more sense.

  It also put you more at ease knowing that Mokuba isn’t out and about completely unguarded. There was no one else you trusted more, besides Kaiba himself, with Mokuba’s safety than Malik. As for how the Egyptian ended up working for the Kaiba was an interesting story of its own.

When the millennium items fiasco finally came to an end, Malik temporarily returned to Egypt, but after experiencing Japan and Domino, the little dessert village hardly interested him anymore. It certainly didn’t help that the largely muslim country that is Egypt rubbed Malik wrong in every way. Therefore, after much begging and pleading, he finally convinced Isis to move to Domino permanently.

The ex-priestess relented, partially, allowing Malik to make a new life for himself in the town of Tokyo while she and Rishid stayed  in Egypt to continue the gravekeeper’s traditions, that and also to continue maintaining Egypt’s national heritage aka the pyramids. Of course, with a permanent exhibit in the Domino museum, the siblings made frequent trips to Japan to visit their beloved younger brother.

However, the real question is, what can Malik do in Domino? His only sizeable accomplishment was creating an international criminal organization at the age of 16. This is of course a serious achievement (of sorts) and is nothing short of amazing despite the mind-controlling powers of the millennium rod. But really, you can hardly write ‘evil mastermind’ in your resume during a job application. And enrolling himself in school was just out of the question.

So what did Malik do?

He took up residency with Ryou Bakura and started to work as a mechanic.

Really, for all his past insanity and criminal activity, Malik is a smart kid (or man, seeing as so many years have passed) who would have gotten a fairly high-flying degree had he not been locked in an under-ground cave for most of his childhood. He built his bike from scratch with spare parts he nicked from the local market and had managed to form the Ghouls with some exceptional computer skills. People say that Egyptians were talented with numbers, and Malik is a prime example of that.

It wasn’t long before Malik went from taking apart cars and bikes to building odd contraptions, which incidentally is also what got him his job with Kaiba.

After firing his latest mechanic, Seta Kaiba was this close to rolling up his sleeves and fixing his cars himself, but alas, he hadn’t the time and Mokuba’s talent with hardware and mechanics is inversely proportional to his talent in software and hacking. Out of desperation (and at Ryou Bakura’s insistence; incidentally, Ryou had become close with the Kaibas after becoming Mokuba’s tutor), Kaiba decided that he can’t do any worse than Malik Ishtar and hired him on a whim.

Who knew the paperless Egyptian was a whiz and gave Kaiba a run for his money (not that the elder Kaia would ever admit this out loud) when it came to mechanics? Of course, Malik’s true talent shined in a truly awkward and hilarious situation that made you laugh to this very day.

It was one of those rare occasions where Seto was free from work and he decided to spend his precious afternoon with his precious little brother. At that time, you have yet to be hired, thus Mokuba was most frequently found in the Kaiba garage with Malik. Expectedly, Mokuba was there that very afternoon, watching Malik do work as he worked on his own assignments for school.

The elder Kaiba walked in, ready to pick Mokuba up for a quick meal at Kaiba Land when he saw Malik’s latest custom creation. A blue-eyes white dragon bike. Malik has been making quite a few of these lately and Kaiba allowed these little burst of creativity as long as blue-eyes were involved. Out of instinct, Kaiba reached out to touch the ice-blue beauty, and before Malik could scream “DON’T TOUCH IT!”, the elder Kaiba had fallen unconscious from a nasty shock, courtesy of the safety device Malik had installed in his master-piece.

The voltage wasn’t strong enough to kill (Malik would never do that with Mokuba hanging around the garage as often as he did), but it was enough to put a man’s lights out for 2 hours straight.

Two hours later, a guilty Malik and a worried Mokuba sat at the foot of Kaiba’s bed, waiting for the verdict that would determine Malik’s fate. Seto woke up, stared at Malik emotionlessly for 15 seconds, and then promptly announced that his medical bills will be deducted from Malik’s salary for the month and that he is to be moved to the security department. Under the condition that Malik continues to work on his cars that is.

And that is how Malik Ishtar got his job as the head of strategic defence development.

As for how you met Malik…well that’s a story for another day, though let’s just say he played a huge part in you becoming the Kaiba family’s bodyguard.

Back to the present world, “Anyways, I’ve finally managed to hunt down that blonde bombshell of a stewardess with your luggage, so shall we get going now?” Malik asked and you shot him and Mokuba a confused look, a look that was shared by Tony.

“Go where exactly?” Tony asked.

 “My house of course!”Mokuba all but chirped and Tony’s reply was a raised eyebrow.

At Mokuba’s grin, you have pretty much figured out the situation but let Malik do the explanation anyways.

“My boss decides that instead of staying at the Grand Hyatt, you guys will be staying at the Kaiba Mansion. He’s already taken care of the cancellation and all that crap, so it’s too late to do anything about it,” Malik explained as he walked towards the car park.

“Is this…presumptuousness, common with Kaiba?”Tony asked as he followed Malik’s lead, non-too happy about the sudden change of plans, HIS plans. The remaining three of you exchanged wary looks, all sensing the pending storm that would strike when the two moguls met.

“Common?” The 3 of you chorused, “It’s a freaking daily occurance.”

“Good to know…”Tony hummed as he weighed his options.

 Now you really wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

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  The ride back to the Kaiba mansion is full of awkward silences. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for everyone, Malik ploughs through those like hot knife through butter and happily blasted Guns and Roses all the way. Finding out that his new worst enemy has the same musical tastes as him left Tony a little miffed, but the thought of finally being able to glimpse into your life left him very excited. You on the other hand was drowning in the strangeness of the entire experience. With Tony sitting next to you, buzzing with some odd sulking excitement (can someone really feel these two emotions together simultaneously?), Mokuba chatting incessantly in the front seat about his girlfriend and school, and Malik driving, with a smirk on his face and humming to the loud rock music

All in all, it was a bizarre combination.

 Rolling up to the front gates of the Kaiba Mansion, you felt a wave of nostalgia and tears overwhelm you. You were home, finally, you were back home. Just as you were savouring your home-coming, Tony just had to break the tender moment with his crude comments.

“Dragons. Really? The top dog of the Japanese technological industry’s fetish are oversized reptiles from the middle ages?”

Of course, Tony Stark just HAD to make a snide comment on the Blue-eyes White dragon statues that sat on the pillars of the front gate and the main fountain of the Garden.

You understood that Tony’s more of a minimalistic chic person whereas Kaiba is more into Victorian style luxury but really, you didn’t see how the man whose idea of a romantic gift is a giant bunny has any rights to insult someone else’s aesthetics. Annoyed that your precious moment was ruined, and also reinvigorated by being around your family again, you, uncharacteristically, made your thoughts known.

“And a 2 storey tall stuffed bunny with giant boobs is more tasteful?” You countered.

Tony pouted at that, it was a one-off miscalculation and he did not share that piece of information with you just for you to use it against him.

 Sensing a fight ensuing, Mokuba quickly tried to make peace, “Maa maa, Mr Stark, the Blue-eyes white dragon is to my brother as the Iron Man suit is to you, I’m sure you understand?”

You actually looked forward to bantering with Tony and pouted when Mokuba ruined your party. From the rear-view mirror, you caught Malik’s amused grin at your pouting and stuck your tongue out at him, but the Egyptian just kept grinning madly, so you opted to ignore him and sulk.

 “Basically, Mr Tony Stark, if you insult the blue-eyes white dragon in any manner before the boss, I guarantee you that not even your famed suit can protect you from his wrath,” Malik quipped.

Inwardly, Tony wondered, what’s so special about a stupid dragon?

“JARVIS, do a quick search on this dragon for me,” Tony muttered, immediately, JARVIS, who was uploaded onto Tony’s sunglasses just for the trip, sprang into life and dug up a list of relevant information for Tony. Quickly browsing through the information, Tony’s bewilderment increased.

 The richest man in Japan is obsessing over a GAME CHARACTER!? Out of the corner of your eye, you saw JARVIS running on Tony’s glasses and it didn’t take much for you to figure out what Tony was silently gawking over.

“Look Tony,” you started, not bothering with the title as you were trying to impress upon him the gravity of the situation, “I mean it when I say that Blue-eyes is to Kaiba what the suits are to you. They’ve been with him through life and death situation and supported him to this day. If anyone called your suits a tin can, you’d probably be blow them up with your repulsor rays, the same goes for Kaiba. I don’t expect you to like it, but at least try to understand, okay?”

 Shocked at both your sudden change in demeanour, Tony nodded dumbly. Since coming to Japan, he’s been seeing more and more new sides of you that he’s never seen before…and he can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not if it involves you lecturing him in such grave tones. But he didn’t have much time to dwell on this thought before he was ushered out the car by Mokuba and swarms of robot butlers came to retrieve the luggage in the boot. Tony eyed them with interest, his qualms about you temporarily suppressed by his curiosity.

 At the door, the only real human butler, Tanaka, greeted all of you.

 “Welcome to the Kaiba estate Mr Stark, and welcome home Ms (l/n),”he bowed.

You bowed back and greeted him warmly, “Tadaima Tanaka-san. It’s good to be back.”

As Mokuba led all of you into the mansion, Tony could only wonder, is this how normal body-guards were treated by their employers’ family in Japan or were you special?

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 “So Mr Stark, if you will follow me, I’ll take you to your room,” Mokuba said as he led you guys into the house.

Tony stopped at the foot of the stairs, “What about (f/n)?”

Mokuba shot him a puzzled look as robots whizzed past all of you, luggage in tow, “(f/n)-nee will be staying in her room. We kept it clean for you, it’s exactly the same as how you left it (f/n)-nee.”Mokuba directed the latter half of the sentence to you and you smiled.

You room, your little sanctuary, they kept it for you.

A warm feeling filled you as you skipped up the staircase, “See you later Mr Stark!”

“Dinner’s at 7pm!” Mokuba called out to you as you reached the top of the stairs.

“Got it!” You made a move to make a beeline to your room that you’ve missed for the past months. You stopped short however, and Tony who was making his way up the stairs with Mokuba stopped too. “Mal, where are you going?” You called out as you saw Malik make his way to the entrance of the mansion.

“Back to my office?” Malik answered, at that you ran down the other flight of staircase, towards your old friend.

“You’re not staying for dinner?” You asked obviously disappointed.

Malik ruffled your hair, “Sorry wild cat, got lots of work waiting for me, you and your new boss are a security nightmare, as you may already be aware of.”

You pouted but didn’t say anything, you knew he was right. Normally, you’d have bugged him into letting you help, but that was when you were a body-guard under his department, now you’re just an outsider. The idea of this put you down even more and your depression must have been showing as Malik tilted your chin up with a finger, forcing you to look at him.

“I’ll drop by after dinner and we can go make a run at the circuit together okay?”

You searched his eyes and finally relented, “Alright…Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise,” Malik assured as he hooked your pinky with his. “Well, business calls. I’m glad to have you back wild cat,” he said as he hugged you again, you hugged him back.

“It’s good to be back Mal.”

Habitually, Malik leaned down to kiss your forehead and then ruffled your hair cheerfully, “Well then, see you later wild cat!”

“Bye Mal!” You waved and ran back up the stairs and to your room.

 Tony watched the entire exchange silently, fuming and jealousy rolling off him in waves.

Being the perceptive person that he was, Mokuba quickly explained, “They’ve always been like this, it doesn’t mean anything.”

Mokuba’s sudden comment shook Tony out of his furious reverie, “Sorry, what?”

“I said, Malik and (f/n)-nee’s always been like this, I know he may seem really affectionate with her but it’s purely platonic. It’s in his culture to treat family this way, and he definitely sees (f/n)-nee as family,” Mokuba elaborated.

Tony shot him a look of disbelief, “I wasn’t aware that Muslims had any customs on being affectionate with the opposite sex, even if they’re family.” Tony placed an exceptional amount of venom in the word ‘affectionate’ as he made his statement.

Mokuba shook his head wildly at Tony’s reply, “No no! Malik isn’t a Muslim though he’s Egyptian. He comes from a family of tomb-keepers who still follows the old Egyptian religions and ways. You know how ancient Egyptians are, they are close with their siblings.”

“Yea, close enough to marry them,” Tony gritted out darkly under his breath.

  Mokuba sighed and decided to let Tony in on some private information in an effort to diffuse the situation.

“Look, yes, (f/n)-nee did have a crush on Malik but he turned her down years ago when she confessed and now they just share a platonic, sibling like relationship. She kisses my forehead too and it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a way we show familial affection,” Mokuba explained warily.

Tony mulled over this new information, you had a crush on this man…but he turned you down, which means he technically isn’t a threat. But somehow, the idea of you liking this queer Egyptian man set Tony on edge. Seeing as he has done his part, Mokuba let the issue rest and continued to lead Tony to his room, suffering from an uncomfortable tension all the way.

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  Mokuba had told him to dress casually for the dinner as despite the Kaiba mansions fancy dining room, the family preferred to be casual and comfortable in their own home. So decked out in shirt and sweat-pants (branded and expensive ones, but still shirt and sweat-pants), Tony walked into the dining room with Mokuba in the lead, more nervous than he has ever been….except perhaps the time he sent the nuclear bomb into an alien wormhole.

 It had just hit him 15 minutes ago, after Mokuba’s explanation of ‘familial affection’ did Tony belatedly realize that you weren’t just a bodyguard but part of the Kaiba family. Which means that Tony isn’t just meeting his business partner…he’s meeting your family. The family of the girl he is interested in.

 It’s a completely new experience for Tony as with Pepper he never had to ‘meet the family’. He was Tony Stark for the love of god, people worship the ground he walks on and Pepper’s parents were more than happy for her to be in a relationship with the great Iron Man. However the Kaibas aren’t Mr and Mrs Potts. No, Kaiba was a genius, billionaire just like himself and probably sees Tony more as a business rival than a God on earth. Though his ego has been taken down a few pegs since joining the Avengers, it’s still rare that regular, non-Hero individuals didn’t see him as some sort of special existence.

 Which meant that Tony actually had to work hard to get the Kaiba family to like him. Normally he wouldn’t care, but seeing how you viciously defended the elder Kaiba in the car, Tony knew that this family means a lot to you and in order to get into your good graces, he’d have to get into theirs first. As he walked into the dining room, Tony berated himself for not bringing a gift for Kaiba and made it his top priority to send over an arc reactor as soon as possible.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person Tony Stark,” Kaiba said as he stood up from his chair at the dining table.

“The pleasure is all mine Seto Kaiba,” Tony replied as he met Kaiba half-way at the dining table to exchange hand-shakes.

Kaiba nodded amiably, or as amiably as he could, and motioned for Tony to take a seat across him. Tony pulled up his chair and looked around the table in amusement. He hadn’t quite expected the dining table to be a round one, but it was, and it denoted that everyone at the table was equal, something he did not expect of Kaiba. After all, the elder Kaiba was known to be a ruthless and powerful businessman, it just didn’t seem like his style to have this ‘equality’ setting. Then again, perhaps this just served to show how important family is to Kaiba.

 Tony’s eyes then flickered to the beautiful albino woman seated next to Kaiba. ‘Kisara’, his brain supplied, Kaiba’s wife, who was talking animatedly but elegantly with Mokuba.

“Let me introduce my wife, Kisara,” Kaiba said as he sat down.

The mistress of the house turned to smile at Tony and gave him a polite nod, “Pleasure to meet you Mr Stark, thank you for looking after our (f/n).”

Yup, this made it official, you were definitely part of the Kaiba family.

 “Don’t start dinner without me!” You ran into the dining room at break neck seat and seated yourself next to Tony.

Tony gave you a one-over and couldn’t wrap his head around what you were wearing, or rather why you were wearing what you were wearing. You had on black tights, a sports bra and a loose, over-sized sleeveless jersey. Not that Tony was complaining because the outfit is probably the most revealing thing he’s ever seen you in, minus the shorts and tank top get-up and he savoured every inch of skin and curve that he was privy to.

 “Mou, nee-chan, why did you take so long?” Mokuba whined. You smiled apologetically.

“Sorry, I was looking for my clothes, then I had to get these printed,” you held up a thick file in your hands and slid it over to the elder Kaiba.

“Oh! You’re going to the circuit later?” Kisara asked, her blue eyes shining with excitement.

You nodded, “Yes Kisara-sama, I am.”

“Can I-,” She started but was cut off by Kaiba, who was looking through the folder.

“No you can’t, you’re pregnant and you should stay home and rest.”

Kisara sent Kaiba a deflated look but nodded, and you marvelled at how the woman managed to look elegant even when disappointed.

“Sorry, I must be missing something here, the circuit?” Tony asked, as he looked back and forth between you and the direction of where Kisara and Mokuba sat.

Unfortunately, just as Mokuba decided to answer his question, Seto had finished looking at what you had dubbed ‘Tony’s crazy master plan’ and instigated the discussion that would bring Japan to a new level of technology advancement. Mokuba mouthed a quick sorry to Tony and told him that he’ll explain the circuit thing later while you let out a sigh of relief. You just weren’t ready for Tony to figure out that you came from the unsightly background of cage-fighting yet…it made you seem that much more distant from him. And you were feeling inadequate enough as it was with all the beautiful, womanly air-stewardesses who surrounded him during the flight. They could offer him their company, their beauty, they were the appropriate arm candies for him at events, and they offered him social status, made him look good. As a cage-fighter, what could you offer him? Bruised and smelly men?

You didn’t have much time for such despairing thoughts however, as Kaiba had launched into his critical commentary of the crazy masterplan and dinner was being served. You scrambled to fit food into your mouth and take notes at the same time.

After all, just because you were ‘home’ doesn’t mean you were off the job.

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Just as he promised, Malik swung by as dessert was being served. He casually pulled up an empty chair beside you after a cursory greeting to everyone at the table.

“Hey wild cat, I see you’re all dressed, ready to bash some heads together?” he started.

You beamed at him and nodded, previous insecurities about Tony figuring out your cage fighting back ground all gone.

It was weird, but you supposed that Malik’s presence made you feel less inadequate, he was your partner on many missions, and he was confident and most importantly proud of your skills and who you were. Most importantly, having a non-too glorious past himself, he could relate to you better. It wasn’t that you were particularly ashamed of being a cage-fighter. You loved it, it made you feel alive. But all your achievements in the ring seemed so insignificant compared to the nubile young things that hounded Tony day by day, and you have never felt so inadequate in your entire life. You were confident in your element of violence and death but thrust into the world of feminism and beauty, you knew deeply that you could never compare. And looking back, Pepper Potts was the epitome of a strong but feminine woman who was sophisticated, intellectual and strong at the same time… Whilst you were confident that you could do her job efficiently, perhaps even better than she can, but just as the new receptionist said to you, you can never hope to become Pepper Potts. Who is an influence that Tony seems to crave in his life. You can step into her shoes, but you will never become her…and the thought saddened you.

Tony saw the forlorn expression that was beginning to creep into your eyes and was about to ask if you were okay, but Malik beat him to it.

“What’s wrong wild cat?” You looked up and saw Malik’s concerned face and shook your head.

“It’s nothing, probably just the nostalgia catching up to me.” You knew that if you said that, Malik would assume that it had something to do with your ex and not the billionaire who sat next to you. Malik nodded and placed a medium-sized box before you.

“Well in that case, you deserve your welcome-back present early.” 

You looked at the box and then back at Malik again, a eyes hopeful, “Is this..?” You trailed off.

Malik nodded with a grin, looking completely too satisfied with himself and you threw yourself onto him in the biggest hug you’ve given anyone in a while.

“Oh my god, oh my god, thank you SO much!”

Kisara who was watching the scene with a fond smile interjected, “That’s great isn’t it (f/n)?”

You nodded. You can’t believe that Malik was gifting your gear, UPGRADED, to you. It’s always been a rule that what’s developed in the defence department, stays in the defence department. Thus you had to go to America without your fighting gear. Not that you needed it, but your gear gave you a sense of security and you’ve been feeling naked for a quite a while. To have it gifted to you just literally made your day.

Tony wondered what was inside the box that made your eyes brighten up like this and lose all your composure. The (f/n) he knew has always been calm, composed and to an extent indifferent. The most emotions he’s ever seen you display is that of annoyance. Your moments of weakness, anger and adorable concentration during bartending not withstanding that is. But here you were, acting like a typical girl your age, smiling, laughing and hugging people.

It made Tony realize painfully, just how far away he truly was from you. This doesn’t mean that he will give up on you, but today has been a sobering lesson for him. He had always thought that you just weren’t an affectionate person who avoided skinship. But evidently, that wasn’t true, you were an affectionate person, just only around people you trust. And Tony apparently is not part of that trusted circle yet. Tony clenched his fist and mentally swore to make himself part of that group before this trip was over.

He has seen the real you, he has finally seen the complete side of you that you’ve been so desperately hiding from him behind your mask of professionalism, and he’d be damned if he couldn’t get you to open up to him. Tony’s subconscious noted that the more he sees of you, the more he is falling of you. But perhaps that is a good thing, because as far as Tony’s conscious side is still reeling from his last heartbreak and is afraid to fall again. As far as he knows, he’s testing the waters, slowly rediscovering how to love, not taking the plunge at a hundred miles per hour.

But his increased heart-rate as he saw your brilliant smile was undeniable, and so was the painful gut-wrenching feeling when you gave Malik yet another grateful hug. Tony mentally comforted himself, he will get there…after all, you’ve already called him Tony twice in a day and that’s a new record for him.

“System breach detected, initiating defensive lockdown system…” The cool voice of the computer system cut through the joyous atmosphere like a knife. Tony looked up, alarmed and ready to suit up, but you beat him to it.

“Enemy’s at C12, approaching the dining area,” Malik yelled as he checked the security system from his phone.

You nodded and in an inhuman feat, leapt across the dining table and landed in a crouch before the table with a vicious glint in your eyes. No one was hurting your charge on your watch. Everyone at this table was too precious to you and whoever came knocking tonight had better be prepared to have their blood spilled. Just the image of Mokuba getting hurt was enough to set your temper ablaze, the idea of Tony being put in any harm’s way was unacceptable…Tony, a wry grin graced your lips, when had he made the list of people you were ready to kill to protect.

“(f/n) catch!” Malik opened the box and threw your gear at you. Sailing through the air, Tony saw, were two rolls of what seemed like wires, glittering under the light and a pair of gloves. You caught the gear and in speed faster than Tony can see, put on the gloves and sent the wires flying through tiny hooks that peppered the walls of the room, forming a complicated shimmering spider web.

With a quick tug, one of the wires tightened before Tony and two halves of an arrow fell to either side of him harmlessly. Tony looked down at the two halves of the black, smoke bomb arrow on the floor and his eyes narrowed. He knows these arrows…Before he could formulate an answer in his head however, he saw you manoeuvre through the web at a superhuman speed to block a kick with your own. 

You looked at the spandex covered leg that is crossed with your own and followed it to its owner, and you felt your eyes widen.

“Natasha!?”

She grinned sheepishly and stood down. Just as she did that, Clint hopped down from his hiding spot and appeared between yourself and Tony.

“Clint?” Tony asked, shocked and confused.

“We come in peace!” Clint said as he put his hands up.

“We probably should have just knocked huh?” Natasha said, only half serious.

“No shit.”

  And your day just got more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jelly Tony is so cute. >-


	8. Cage Fighting, Japan style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: You know the drill. All the copyrighted stuff aren't mine. 
> 
> Hello my dear readers, I suppose I should grovel for forgiveness. Work and school has been unforgiving these past few weeks, I barely have the time to sleep, much less the energy to update, so to make up for it, I'm doing a double update tonight! 
> 
> What's Natasha and Clint doing in Japan? Read on to find out!

  You briefly wondered if Tony figured it out, but bartending for you is like meditating for monks, it’s calming. Which is why when Kaiba, death glare in place, offered Clint and Natasha a seat at the dining table to explain themselves, you had volunteered to make drinks for everyone.

   You walked into the kitchen with a heavy heart; unlike Tony, Kaiba did not have a bar in the middle of his dining area, which meant you had to make do with the kitchen. Which was fine with you, because at the moment you really did not want to see anyone…especially Tony. It made you uncomfortable knowing that he had just saw you in action. And you couldn’t fathom why.

  The first time Kaiba ordered you to ‘show him what you can do’, you had him face pressed against the wall, between your boot. You liked showing off what you can do, and yet you hid it all from Tony. Why is that? Absentmindedly, you reached for the liquor that reminds you of Tony, whiskey. He had so much of it on his bar and have always favoured whiskey based cocktails…what should you make with it today?

  You eyed the cream that sat on the kitchen counter, calling out to you, to use it. Grabbing it, you watched as the thick liquid pour out the carton, into your shaker, into the whiskey and watched it separate into a muddled mess as it reacted with the whiskey. A sense of irony filled you; right now, if Tony was the whiskey, you were the cream. Not that you would normally compare yourself to cream, if you ever did compare yourself to an alcohol, it would be Absinthe. Absinthe is created from herbs, something that was meant to heal, but is brewed into one of the strongest alcohols that is borderline undrinkable. That was you, someone who lived to protect, but only knew how to kill and hurt. Of course, a little water and sugar made you palatable, and your sugar and water was no doubt the Kaiba family.

  Now however, you were the cream. Something not even remotely alcoholic. Why were you the cream? Because that is what Tony sees you as. He saw you as the girl with a jaded past, a girl who was hurt by love, who needs to be protected and cared for. He saw you as the head-strong but caring girl, who made his breakfast, who fixed his clothes, who looked after him. He knew you had an edge to you, he saw you fight off the thug, but he didn’t know that the edge was most of you. And you didn’t want to destroy that illusion of his, that is why you didn’t want him to see you, the real you, the fighter you.

  Tony Stark likes the girl who fixes him drinks, listens to his problems and takes care of him. He saw you as sunshine, which is occasionally clouded on a gloomy day and occasionally hot enough to burn. But will he still like you, the real you, who really is the wind, usually a mellow caress but in truth, a storm that can rip cities apart? Will he still like those drinks knowing that they were made by the hands of a killer? Because really, that is who you are. Your title as bodyguard is as much a euphemism as Malik’s title as head of security.

  People who came after Mokuba do so with either the idea of killing him or killing Kaiba through him. These people have no conscience and will stoop to any level to get what they desire. So the only way to truly end the threat that they pose, is to end them. You didn’t like killing people, but anyone who is evil enough to hurt something as innocent as Mokuba deserved to die. Of course, you didn’t go around just cutting people down, Kaiba, for all his ruthlessness is a man who detests deaths, therefore you only killed those who truly cannot be redeemed or neutralized through other methods. On the other hand however, Kaiba is also not so naïve as to wait for his enemies to come up to his door steps, the moment he or Malik hears of a plan against Mokuba (and now Kisara as well), you were deployed to end the problem before it starts.

  You smiled at the memory of what Kaiba told you when he first hired you, “I hired you to be Mokuba’s protector. You are his shield, he will not bleed so long as you draw breath. And if you die, then it should only be in his place. If you can’t abide by these rules then you can leave now.”

 Of course your first reaction was to roll your eyes, how can this man ever expect you to lay your life on the line for a kid you didn’t know, much less care for? But the money was good, much better than cage fighting, and the promise of stronger foes was tempting, the opponents on the circuit no longer challenged you and you wanted to be better, to be stronger. After all, when your ex left, victories on the circuit were the only things that defined you, that proved your worth anymore. Besides, the risks were the same. You lose you die. So who cares if your mentality isn’t what Kaiba prefers? So you agreed to his terms…and ended up doing exactly what he told you to do.

  To protect.

  Because in all reality, Mokuba is an easy kid to love, because he loves so freely. He can see the best even when you are at your worse, which is probably why Kaiba loved his younger brother so deeply, which is probably why you loved Mokuba so much. You would kill Kaiba if he ever tried to hurt Mokuba and the elder Kaiba is aware, and endorses this.

  But Mokuba isn’t your problem anymore, not right now. You stared at the muddled concoction in the shaker and sighed. Tony is the problem now. Just like how the whiskey is breaking down, rejecting the cream, will Tony reject you when he finally knows the real you? You have admitted to yourself a long time ago that you have fallen in love with this man, and his rejection will no doubt break you…which is why you have been so carefully hiding the rest of you from him; he likes what he sees now, but who is to say he will like the rest of you?

  You knew of course, that on a certain level, this is silly. Tony doesn’t love you, he loves Pepper and even now, as he is bouncing back, he is not looking at you romantically, you were just another girl whom he enjoys flirting with…but you didn’t even want to lose that. You had seen his guarded reaction when he first thought you were from SHIELD, you knew that if you were from SHIELD, he would have left you right then and there on the street, burn all your stuff and expel you from his life forever. Was being a killer, even one who protects, as bad, if not worse than being a member of SHIELD to him? You have no answer…and you don’t think you ever want to know the answer.

  You sighed and made the move to empty the whiskey and cream concoction into the sink, but then you saw the honey on the counter and something hit you. Honey…hair of the dog…you blinked, once, twice, then thrice and remembered the drink that your bartending mentor taught you many years ago, after your first hangover.

_“I never want to taste alcohol again as long as I live…” You groaned as you entered the bar, hungover from the previous night of drinking._

_“That’ll be a problem won’t it? A bartender not tasting their own drinks…” The old man teased and you glared at him. He laughed and motioned for you towards him, though unhappy, you complied. “This is a little remedy that’s been hanging around for a long time, it doesn’t really help the hangover mind you, but it should make alcohol a little more appealing to you,” the old man said as he busied himself readying the ingredients._

_You watched, despite the pounding head ache, as he laid things you rarely see on the bar, onto the bartop. The only thing that actually look like it belonged was the whiskey. But you were too tired to comment and watched as your mentor combined the honey, cream and milk with the whiskey with a hard shake (A/N: hard shake is a bartending technique). He finished off the drink with a dust of nutmeg and passed it to you._

  The same cream colored drink sat before you now as it did many years ago. You tipped a drop into your mouth with a straw and savoured the sweet but rich flavour and the velvety texture. Placing the final drink on the tray, you walked out into the dining area, now unafraid.

  If whiskey and cream can combine with enough perseverance, then you can make peace with Tony with enough stubbornness. You walked out the kitchen with a spring in your step, now that the weight of worry has been lifted off your shoulder.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You served Tony’s drink last and whispered quietly to him, “Can we talk after this?”

  He shot you a wary and confused look but nodded anyways. You smiled gratefully and returned to your seat. Seeing as you were seated, Natasha sipped her Black Widow cocktail (you grinned at the pun) and began her explanation.

  “First off, I apologize for intruding, though technically, Clint and I weren’t the ones doing the intruding,” She said.

“Natasha, get to the point please,” Tony replied in an annoyed tone. He always did have a problem with her cryptic statements and riddles. That and he is still unhappy about the time she played him back when he was suffering from palladium poisoning.

“We received information that someone is planning to attack you while you were here, in the Kaiba mansion, so we were deployed to alert you, but as luck would have it, we ran into them on our way here and ended up engaging them in the mansion; we took them down but they managed to escape and the rest, as you know, is history,” Clint followed up.

The temperature of the room dropped several degrees as Kaiba gripped Kisara’s hand a little more tightly.

  “Well, that’s nothing new. People are always trying to kill me, and you guys don’t always show up to save my ass, you sure as hell weren’t there when Mandarin attacked. So what makes this so special?” Tony questioned while adding a jibe at SHIELD in.

 Natasha brushed off the jibe and replied as professionally, “We don’t know who these people are. You know how Fury is when he doesn’t know who the enemy is. All we know is that they were waiting for you to arrive here, in Japan. Our intel tipped us off about them when they saw that you were being followed by people when you arrived at the airport.”

  “Well that was helpful,” Tony snorted as he leaned back against his chair and sipped his drink.

Kaiba’s eyes narrowed at the information, “Why here?”

This time it was Clint who answered, “We don’t know yet, but we have come up with two possibilities. The first, which is more unlikely, is that this group of people assumed that the Kaiba mansion will be easier to infiltrate than the Stark tower, especially since Stark has no home-field advantage here.”

Kaiba hn-ed and Mailk grinned viciously, “Well they obviously thought wrong.”

You, who knew the security measures of both Stark Tower and Kaiba mansion choked a laugh as well. Kaiba is the most paranoid bastard you would ever meet, no one who ever planned to infiltrate ever made it out alive. In comparison, Stark tower is like Disneyland.

  “So yea, our second, and more likely explanation would be that they don’t want Stark holding his expo here in Japan and is trying to prevent it in any way possible.” Clint finished.

You watched as the two geniuses contemplated this possibility and as they both smirked when they came to a conclusion, you and Mokua exchanged worried looks.

“If that’s the case,” Tony said in a song-song voice, and you watched in horror as he and Kaiba said in unprecedented unison, “All the more reason we should make the expo happen.”

  Both you and Mokuba shook your head slowly in bitter amusement, and if JARVIS had a body, you were pretty sure he would do the same too. Before the attack, these two stubborn CEOs were still haggling details, exchanging hidden insults and criticizing each other’s proposals. The final consensus before dinner ended was that they would think it over one night and make a decision in the morning. You knew that Tony already had JARVIS running a search for other potential partners in Japan and Kaiba was already filling the idea into the back of his head for future use, on his own terms. But then these guys just had to show up and well, neither Tony nor Kaiba were known for turning down a challenge.

  If there were people out there who didn’t want them to make the Stark expo happen, then it was going to happen alright.

  “We are still renaming the forum the Kaiba and Stark expo,” Kaiba concluded crisply in a tone that gave no room for argument.

But Tony is very good at making room for arguments for himself, “Really? But I think that the Stark and Kaiba expo has a nicer ring to it.”

Kisara shot you and apologetic smile that you returned, and the two geniuses returned to their arguing.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 After telling Malik to take Mokuba to the circuit first, you brought Tony to the garage, to your car, for your little talk. The silence on the way was definitely uncomfortable but you walked on and so, so did Tony.

  As the garage doors opened, Tony couldn’t help but give a low whistle. “Man, and people say I’m a spendthrift.”

You giggled at his comment, indeed, the Kaiba garage is an impressive place, mostly because it doesn’t just house cars. The blue-eye jet that Kaiba makes the effort to fly every weekend sat in the middle of the room like a trophy, aside from a few expensive sports cars, many custom models from Malik’s good old days in the garage also stood out. In short, it made Tony’s collection of automobiles look humble.

“Well, a lot of it is custom-built by Kaiba-sama or Mal, so they didn’t really cost much...except for the jet…but it’s a Kaiba thing, that one,” you tried to verbalize why Seto Kaiba owning a blue-eyes jet is just the law of nature but simply couldn’t find the words to do so.

  At the mention of Malik’s name, Tony’s mood darkened considerably. He had given you a present, which although now Tony knew is just equipment, it still bothered him how in-sync the two of you were in the skirmish that happened just now. When Malik gave the coordinates you didn’t even bother to question him and when you dove into battle, you didn’t even bother looking back. Tony knew, because of his time with the Avengers, that that was an expression of absolute trust. Then Malik had thrown you your weapon and you caught it with practiced ease…which Tony knew could only mean that this sort of team-work was frequent. Tony knew a team when he saw one and he knew that you and Malik were one. It made him bubble with jealousy.

 Over the past few months, he has come to see the two of you as a team. Just you and him against the world. You were by his side when dealing with annoying sponsors, you there when he is dealing with SHIELD and the two of you even had your own little special team-bonding time every week, drinking cocktails and sharing stories. He thought it was special…that he was special. But apparently not. You have another partner...

  Tony sighed at the foolishness of his thoughts. The rational side of him knew that this disappointment was silly. Of course you had a life, a different one, prior to working for him. That meant you had friends, you had partners, it didn’t mean that the camaraderie that the two of you shared wasn’t real, it’s just that he entered your life later than others. But his heart wouldn’t listen and it still ached uncomfortably when he sees all these parts of you and your life that he isn’t part of.

  You watched Tony’s expression grow darker and bit your lip nervously. So you were right then, he does have a problem with you now that he knows who you really are. Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself for the plunge you’re about to take.

“Mr Star…no, Tony,” you started, and Tony snapped back to reality and stared at you right in the eye. He just looked and looked and didn’t make any comments, so you took that as a cue to continue.

“I understand if you don’t want me working for you anymore, heck, I’d understand if you don’t want me in your life anymore, but I just want you to know that working for you has been one of the best times in my life and even if you really choose to fire me, I hope that you can give me one last chance to redeem myself…I didn’t mean to keep everything from you. I mean, I should have just told you from the start who I am and what I really did. At first I just assumed that you’d read my resume so I didn’t bother, but then I found out you haven’t but I still couldn’t be bothered to explain it properly, I swear I was going to bring it up one of these days but then that whole stupid robbery incident just had to happen and I’m just so scared that you’d hate me if you found out the truth and I can’t take it if you hated me, I really can’t. But then I realized that it doesn’t matter if you hate me because I brought this upon myself and I’d-“ You were cut of abruptly when Tony put a finger on your lip, silencing you.

“Sh…” He hushed as he leaned down and placed his forehead against yours. You blushed at the loss of space between the two of you and your heart-beat starting racing as you realized that there was but a centimetre between your lips.

“Now,” he chuckled as he smoothed your hair down with his hand comfortingly, “I don’t and will never hate you silly. You’re such an important part of my life, now where is all this nonsense coming from?”

  Relief washed through you and suddenly you felt all the courage and strength that you’ve mastered leave you and the waterworks started. Tears rained down from your eyes uncontrollably, he wasn’t going to fire you, he wasn’t going to leave you…

  Though alarmed at the sudden onslaught of tears, Tony reacted quickly and pulled you into a hug and rubbed circles on your back in a comforting manner, consoling you with gentle words, “Sh…it’s okay babe, I’m here, I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. So don’t worry okay?”

You nodded against the nape of his neck, partially feeling apologetic that you were getting tears on him and partially marvelling at how frequently you end up a sobbing mess in his arms. You usually don’t cry so much, you really don’t, but this man just always brings out the most emotional in you.

  You pushed him away gently and wiped your tears away with your shirt, but Tony still kept his arms around you for good measure and you sure as hell weren’t going to protest.

“So are you going to tell me what just happened? Cause I’m really confused right now,” Tony said with a laugh, though his confusion was genuine.

You nodded, “I’m actually really confused too…” You began and Tony laughed at your reply but let you continue. “Well…um…I guess, uh…okay. Bodyguards here in Japan are very different from bodyguards in the states. We don’t just stand there and look scary and push annoying paparazzi around…here we actually, well, fight and kill and go on missions and stuff…not unlike SHIELD agents and since you reacted really badly during that robbery incident when you thought I was a SHIELD agent, I just thought that you had something against people like us…and if you found out I was…well, me, then you’d hate me and never want to see me again. And you looked so…upset just now…”

  Gods, you groaned mentally, that sounded childish even to you. But Tony obviously found it amusing and unbeknown to you, endearing. So that was what upset you so much? Well, Tony supposed that if you had that idea in your head then all his Malik-related dark moods would have been misconstrued as distaste for you…isn’t this just a hot mess. But Tony relished any chance he got to hold you and comfort you and this was no exception.

Pulling you close to him once again, he buried his head in your hair and nuzzled, “You silly silly little thing,” he chuckled.

He pulled away and looked at you in the eye. His gaze was so serious, so intense that you almost had to look away, but you held your gaze, ready to listen to the explanation that he was going to give. “I do not and will never hate you just because you can totally kick ass. Hell, I am friends with a man who can demolish Harlem and swallow a nuclear bomb with no harmful effects. So why the hell will I have a problem with you being a highly trained assassin…uh…body guard,” he trailed off uncertainly.

You opened your mouth to protest, but he silenced you again, “I really have a thing against undercover SHIELD agents because a few years back, Natasha snuck in as my personal assistant and caused me a world of grief. It’s SHIELD agents masquerading as sexy assistants that I have a problem with, not the head-bashing and violence. So don’t worry okay? Just because you killed a few assholes here and there doesn’t change the fact that you’d make a great wife someday. I mean, I’ve blown up villages and bombed down troops, I’m pretty sure my body count is way above yours…” Tony joked and you nodded.

  For a moment, everything was silent, then, out of a moment’s impulse, you threw your arms around Tony in a tight embrace. “Thank you Tony, thank you.” He returned the hug just as tightly.

“Well I got you to call me Tony, so all is good.”

The jab obviously signalled that feel-good time was officially over and life was back to normal. Instead of retorting, you squeezed Tony even harder and he choked, “Ouch ouch ouch, too hard, can’t breathe, ribs breaking!”

You let the poor guy go and levelled a mock glare at him, “Oh I’m sorry Mr Stark, was that too tight for you?”

  Tony returned your glare and pouted, eyeing the black jeep that the two of you had stopped next to, he all but whined, “Just get in the damn car.”

 You did and you drove, very happily to the cage-fighting circuit. Now that you know that Tony doesn’t mind your violent background, you can’t wait to show off.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Tony looked amongst the crowd for the familiar mop of black hair that was Mokuba. He caught the sandy blond hair of Malik first and reluctantly made is way over to the pair.

 “Mr Stark! You made it!” Mokuba greeted excitedly.

Tony returned the excited grin with one of his own, “Yup, this is a pretty cool place. Are all cage-fighting circuits like this in Japan?”

Tony had been little surprised when he found out that you were a cage-fighter before becoming a body-guard. He just couldn’t imagine you in back of a dirty, dingy old bar, in a rusty old cage, brawling with drunken men. When he made his opinion known, you had laughed so hard that you almost crashed the car. You never answered as to why you laughed so hard at his description of a cage-fighting circuit, but arriving at the building he finally knew why.

  Tony supposed that though he was laughed at, at least he doesn’t have to picture you fighting in a rusty old cage in a batty bar.

“Well, not all the circuits in Japan are as fancy as this one, this is after all the main circuit, but circuits here are generally pretty well-quipped…compared to the ones in America,” Malik explained.

Well-quipped, in Tony’s point of view, is an understatement. Even WWE stadiums weren’t as decked out as this.

  The circuit was located underground of a dojo in the middle of the business district. The building was a beautiful glass and metallic structure with bamboo adorning the front door. The circuit was located underground, spanning 3 floors. The first a reception and a souvenir shop (yes a freaking souvenir shop), the second the holding area for the contestants and the third is of course the fighting area. Looking around again, Tony tried to come to terms with the grandeur of the place. The high ceilings made the place seem more like a warehouse than an underground enclave. The stadium itself is a combination of rows of small cages, with a huge one in the centre; the cages were the only thing that seems to resemble cage-fighting in the west, all similarities ended there. Surrounding the stadium were seats, not unlike that of a typical football stadium, except each seat came with a touch-screen that enabled betting. Huge screens hung from the ceiling, casting fights from different cages. Above the stadium seats were what looked to be VIP rooms, each with floor to ceiling windows, but are actually restaurants serving various cuisines.   

   Tony found Mokuba and Malike by the bar, which was the only establishment on what Tony dubs the ‘VIP’ level (though it isn’t for VIPs), that is open air. He took a seat and ordered whiskey, straight. Both Malik and Mokuba shot him a knowing grin, no one who has lived with you ever ordered cocktail outside and it would seem that Tony has inherited this habit.

“I take it she went on ahead?” Malik asked as he sipped his own drink.

Tony nodded, “Yea. Do you know which cage she will be fighting in?” Tony looked around wildly at all the cages scattered around, trying to find you.

“Don’t bother looking for her, you’ll know when she’s on,” Mokuba said cryptically.

  Before Tony can follow up with another question, suddenly all the lights in the stadium dimmed and all that was left is light from the screens. Tony quickly put on his sunglasses, which has lenses that is now clear and switched on JARVIS’ translation function.

The commentator, a man in a blue-suit with flaming orange hair announced dramatically, “Welcome one and all! We interrupt all fights to bring you an unexpected special surprise!”

The crowd’s cheers were deafening, Tony non-too discreetly covered his own ears, then again, he looked at Mokuba who was screaming at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down, maybe it was just the younger Kaiba who was too loud.

“As you all know, we have been missing her presence here for almost half a year now. You thought she has left us for good, I thought she has left us for good, but today, it is my pleasure to announce that THE QUEEN IS BACK!”

The crowd’s cheers got more deafening, and Tony who was beginning to piece things together shot Malik a questioning look.

  The Egyptian’s smirk served to confirm Tony’s suspicions, but even if it didn’t, you rising into the middle of the centre, largest cage on a platform certainly did.

“JARVIS, zoom into (f/n) please,” Tony said absentmindedly as he stared at you, the centre of the entire stadium’s attention.

“Certainly sir, would you like me to take pictures and keep a video record of this sir?”

“What do you think?” Tony replied dryly.

If JARVIS could chuckle, he would, but he was not programmed to do so, thus he settled for a sarcastic “Of course sir.”

  Tony couldn’t take his eyes off you. Something about you looked different, and he doesn’t mean your clothes, because you were still wearing the same ensemble you showed up in at dinner.

No, it wasn’t your clothes but your demeanour.

 It has always been obvious that you were a confident woman, but now standing in the cage, in the arena, you were beyond confident. There was a sense of pride in the way you stood there, a light smirk adorning your face as you surveyed the stadium. Though your expression was generally calm, Tony caught the excited and predatory glint in your eyes and though he cannot explain it, he found it all very arousing.

  “So,” the announcer who has made his way to the centre cage asked, “Dear queen, do you have a few words for us?”

You shrugged as you took the mic from him.

  “Hey guys,” you greeted and the stadium once again was filled with cheers and roars. “Settle down please,” you requested tiredly and the crowd immediately obeyed. “Thank you. I apologize for my abrupt departure, and I’d just like to let all of you know beforehand that I won’t be back for a while after this because I’ve kind of migrated overseas.” The crowd ‘aww’-ed at your announcement, disappointment evident. “Sad, I know. But technically I’ve been retired for ages and you guys only see me once a month anyway so I don’t think it’s a huge difference. Let us all just enjoy’s today fight and forget about tomorrow shall we?” You finished and the crowd went wild.

  “Bring in the challengers!” The announcer said as a crane came and sent him away from the soon-to-be battlefield. Tony watched with growing concern as three men, of varying sizes entered the cage, each holding a different weapon. They didn’t look like the brawlers Tony was used to, no, they looked like trained SHIELD agents who decided that Halloween came early.

 “Is she going to be okay?” He asked worriedly, only to be ruthlessly shot down by Mokuba and Malik’s ‘are you stupid’ look.

“No, she’s not,” Malik replied sarcastically, earning himself a glare.

 Mokuba followed up, “Yea, she’s probably going to be bored…”

Tony’s eyes widened at the statement and quickly turned his attention back to the arena, ready to be awed by the fight that was soon to unfold.

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  Malik had deemed you too high (you blame the post-fight adrenaline rush) to drive, so he forced you leave your jeep at the circuit (“I’ll get my assistant to drive it back tomorrow,” he said) and drove everyone back to the mansion. Mokuba was jumping and down in his seat with you as he reviewed the fight excitedly.

  Tony was unusually silent and concerned, so you asked, “Are you okay sir?”

The word ‘sir’ did its job to catch his attention and Tony shot you an annoyed look, “Come on, I thought we have already graduated to calling me Tony?”

“Whatever you say, sir,” you teased.

 Mokuba hid is grin behind his hand but Malik just snorted. Tony ignored them and you continued, “But really, are you alright? You look distracted.”

  Tony nodded, “Yea I’m fine. Just…still trying to come to terms with this whole cage fighting thing. I don’t think I can even call it cage-fighting anymore. I mean, that guy came at you with a freaking Katana! And what was with that short guy, did he think he’s a ninja or something? Where do all these people come from!? This is like mixer martial arts on steroids!” The entire car dissolved into laughter at Tony’s outburst.

  “Yea well, that’s the Japanese for you,” Malik said and both you and Mokuba gave cries of protest.

“I mean it in a good way,” Malik amended with a sigh.

“Elaborate,” you demanded.

“Well you Japanese people just have a habit of taking stuff from other countries and then making it impossibly advanced and high quality, look at what you guys did to toilets!”

Tony couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the toilet comment. Indeed, even he, Tony Stark, had a less advance toilet than a typical Japanese family mall and that’s saying a lot.

“Yea well, it’s not our fault we find it necessary to give our best in everything we do,” Mokuba pouted and you nodded in agreement.

“You guys turn even the most menial of tasks into a craft,” Malik countered and though it was a compliment of sorts, both you and Mokuba couldn’t help but feel offended.

  Craft, Tony mused. Indeed, what he saw in the circuit today isn’t just brawling, it was a clash of crafts. Each fighter has honed their skills to the highest degree, no one who wasn’t at least a master of their choice of martial arts were in the cages today. In fact the person most akin to a brawler was ironically, you. But even then you fought with grace and viciousness that wasn’t found in cage-fights, or as Tony now preferred it, cage-brawls.

“It’s pretty scary when you think about it though, so many fighters and all of them with such skill? If this gets known, Japan would be seen as a military nightmare,” Tony commented offhandedly.

“It’s a good thing that Japan’s a really inward looking country then, because cage-fighters you see there are on the bottom of the food chain. Up the hierarchy are body-guards and assassins,” Malik answered and Tony shuddered at the thought.

Sure, your opponents today were probably not as skilled as Clint or Natasha, but those two were one in a million, many agents weren’t even half as skilled as the challengers you faced today. The thought unsettled Tony a little.

  “We are still a really safe country though, anyone who has attained that level of skill has a certain level of discipline and code of honor beaten into them, literally,” Mokuba explained in an effort to calm the visibly agitated Tony.

“Beaten into us is an understatement,” you can’t help but complain and Tony looked to you for an explanation.

“You saw the dojo on the first floor right?”

Tony nodded.

“That’s where a lot of us start off. That’s where people who aspire to become cage-fighters learn how to fight and the first few things they beat into you is that you are only allowed to use your skills against your opponents that those who actively try to cause you harm. There are like a bunch of different codes depending on which school of combat you pick but the general outline is the same. And man, all these ‘masters’, tiny old men they are really do pack a punch. Mine actually beat me around with a tree brunch, a good to honest TREEBRANCH! I was picking splinters from my thighs for weeks before I cleared basic training,” you ranted.

  Mokuba and Malik who have heard your training horror stories had no reaction, but Tony smiled warmly. It felt nice, Tony decided, to hear you share about your life so freely. If he could get more stories out of you, perhaps coming to Japan wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY! Progress in the relationship! more adorable fluff coming up next chapter! I'm also slowly starting to see how crossover stories become lovable but hard to tame monsters. They just...grow.


	9. Virtual Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Me no own ya. 
> 
> Yes, more fluffy moments! In this chapter we will finally learn more about the reader! And yes, if you squint (and you don't have to squint too hard), you'll find Air Gear references. Care to make a guess as to who your dad is?

“Aren’t you glad you work for me now?” Tony said as he walked out of the Kaiba building, arms raised in a long stretch.

You agreed with Tony’s statement, but mainly for reasons different from what he is thinking…

“I mean, gods, does he ever shut up! I thought the stick up Fury’s ass was bad…Blue eyes’ is much worse…no offense to you of course,” Tony quickly added.

“None taken sir,” you replied with a soft smile.

You’ve never actually had to sit through a meeting when you worked for the young CEO and you probably would never have to if you haven’t started working for Tony…but to you it’s a small price to pay to stay beside the man you’ve come to love.

“So where’s our ride?” Tony said as he stood on the Domino sidewalk before the Kaiba building.

You checked your watch and looked at the black spot that was coming up over the horizon, “About….now.”

Just as you finished you sentence, your beloved black jeep rolled up the street to a halt before you. The car door opened and a familiar albino stepped out.

“Hey, sorry Malik couldn’t make it, he’s stuck in his office again.”

“No worries Ryou, thanks for bringing No-chan up!” You said as you grabbed the key from Ryou Bakura’s hands.

The British-born albino nodded in Stark’s direction and entered the Kaiba building.

You motioned for Tony to get into the car.

“You named your car?”

“Yes, I named my car.”

“No-chan, really?”

 “Her full name is Noir, No-chan’s a nick-name,” you replied indignantly.

“You’re so cute,” Tony said as he ruffled your hair affectionately.

In an attempt to hide your embarrassment, you quickly snapped back as you shook his hand off you head, “I’m not a dog!”

“Of course you’re not!” Tony replied in all seriousness, “You’re a cat, a wild cat.” He stated smugly and you gritted your teeth in an effort to reign in your temper.

“I’m still driving,” you reminded, and Tony backed down after that, but not without a smug grin adorning his face.

“So what’s our plan for today, almighty driver lady?” Tony had completely laid back on his seat and had propped his leg up on your dashboard/

You wisely decided to not comment on his current position and instead answered his question, “We’re headed for the crowning jewel of Kaiba Corporation.”

Tony sat up a little at that, “And that is?”

“Kaiba Land,” You replied.

“Kaiba Land?” Tony repeated, sceptical.

 “Yes, Kaiba Land,” you confirmed.

As the light turned red, you looked at Tony who had a mocking grin plastered on his face, “You got a problem with the name, sir?” You asked.

Tony put his hands up defensively, “No no, it’s very original.” He said with mock sincerity.

You couldn’t help it, you laughed, and Tony laughed with you. As you drove down the hill, Kaiba Land came into sight, a huge glass and metal dome structure, woven into the building was two twisting rails that was the Blue-eyes and Red-eyes roller-coaster.

 This time Tony whistled, “Very original.”

You grinned, it was time to show off.

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  Tony hung back as he looked at you excitedly introduce him the rides. He was grateful that you at least had the common sense to not make him sit on any of them. Constantly flying at Mach 6 speed has sucked all the fun right out of amusement park rides. He must admit that Kaiba Land an impressive piece of work. It used state of the art technology from climate control to architecture, and of course holographic projections were abused in every way possible. You had just taken him through the indoor park and was at the outdoor section, you stopped by a crystal clear river that you wondered was even real.

“The lake has a state of the art biological filter fitted in, it’s part of the algae research that Todai was doing and because Mokie came up with these underwater projections, the water HAD to be crystal clear…but forget about that, look across!!” You gestured.

Tony took a few steps closer to the railings that you were leaning over and casually rested his arms on the railing, over you, effectively trapping you between his arm and the railing. You blushed at the closeness but didn’t comment.

“You see those red, yellow and blue roofs?” You pointed.

“You mean those?” Tony grabbed your pointing hand with his and shifted it to his eye view.

You nodded, “That’s the duel academy, it actually teaches duel monsters…along with typical curriculum. It’s the most prestigious private school in Domino city.”

“That’s cool,” Tony commented with a voice that said anything but, he just enjoyed having you in his arms.

“Alright Mr Stark, I get it, you’re not impressed,” you stated.

Tony chuckled, “You caught me.”

  At this point, Tony had moved behind you completely and was pretty much just hugging you from behind and was resting his head on top of yours. Having long since learnt not to question these affectionate actions, you simply tilted your head up with a mischievous glint in your eyes.

“I’ve got just the thing to knock your socks off,” you said.

Tony looked right back at you in the eye, “Do you now? Should I be glad that I’m not wearing socks then Ms (l/n)?”

You narrowed your eyes at his statement and ducked out of his embrace, “Mock me now Mr Stark…you will regret this.”

You dragged him by the arm down the road, to the hidden underground bunker a couple hundred meters away. After performing a retina scan at the security system, you turned just in time to see him try to plug JARVIS into the system.

“Sir…” You warned.

“Spoilsport,” he pouted and he placed his phone back in his pocket.

“Come on now, lets see the REAL crowning jewel of Kaiba Corporation,” you said as you led him into the bunker.

What greeted you and Tony beyond the metal door were dozens of human sized pods.

“Kaiba Corporation’s crowning jewel is some simulation ride?”

“Close,” you said as you went to one of the pods and punched in some numbers.

“Sir, could you lift up your arms please?” You asked.

Tony gave you a weird look but obliged. You smiled sunnily and him and heaved him by his underarms and chucked him in the nearest pod, strapped him in and slapped a visor onto him.

“I didn’t know you were into bondage,” Tony joked at your manhandling. Instead of replying, you slammed the cover of the pod down on him.

“JARVIS, do you trust me?” You asked the AI.

“I should think so mam,” you heard the faint reply from within the pod.

“Then don’t interfere,” you said and you flipped the ‘ON’ switch on Tony’s pod and quickly hopped into your own.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  One moment he was strapped into a pod and the next a low hum filled the pod and he blacked out. The next he knew, he was standing in a field of grass with wind blowing in his hair.

“What the..JARVIS!?”

“He can’t hear you,” came your familiar voice.

Tony spinned around to see you, or who he thought was you because last he checked you didn’t have blue eyes.

  “(f/n)?”

“In the flesh….well not really. In the virtual flesh?” You tried and giggled at your own joke.

“Virtual…you mean?” Tony turned around to look at his surroundings, the mountains, the running river, the grass, the sun, the clouds in the sky…

“You’re kidding me. This is…virtual reality?”

You nodded smugly.

“There’s no way,” he said.

“Well, in real life I can’t do this,” you said as you pulled out a duel monster card and summoned Sword of Dark Destruction. You went through a few katas with the black blade that was cackling with black electricity.

“This is insane,” Tony said as he stared, mesmerized by the light trails the sword left in its wake.

“I can actually feel the electricity the sword is giving off…I can feel the sun on my face, hell the humidity in the air!” He exclaimed with disbelief.

“Mr Kaiba’s a very thorough person,” you shrugged as you put your sword away.

  “Okay, I’ll admit, I’m impressed, now where can I get me one of those swords?” Tony admitted easily.

You laughed, “I’ve got something better for you,” you said.

“Better than a magical black sword!?” He said in mock shock.

“Have you ever rode a dragon?” You asked, smirking.

For once, Tony looked genuinely stunned, “No way.”

Without replying, you put your fingers to your lips and blew, the loud whistle resounded in the open fields, “KIRYU!” You yelled.

  From afar, a black dot sped towards where you two were standing and within minutes, a red dragon landed at your feet, the wind in her wake almost toppling Tony over. You jumped onto the dragon back and held a hand up to Tony, “Come on!”

You haven’t flew in so long, and the excitement showed. Tony gripped your hand and let you pull him up.

“Are you sure this is safe?”

You shrugged, “At worst you fall and die and end up at your last saving point.”

“That does not reassure me one bit,” Tony replied bluntly and you chuckled.

“Better hang on tight then.”

“To what!?” He looked around the dragon, looking for some sort of saddle or rope to hold onto.

“Me,” you said as the dragon took off and Tony involuntarily wrapped his arms around you.

“WOHOO!!” You screamed as Kiryu broke through the clouds and the wind beat against your face almost painfully, you missed this so much.

Arms still tightly wound around your waist, Tony commented, “I see why you aren’t afraid of flying.”

  You turned around to see his eyes squinted due to the speeding winds. You placed one hand on his eyes and placed your lips on his forehead and muttered a spell. Within moments a pair of googgles materialized on his face. Due to your position, you couldn’t see Tony’s blush when you ‘kissed’ his forehead. He certainly had not expected that.

“Better?” You asked.

He nodded and you smiled brilliantly at him.

“Wonderful, Kiryu, full-speed ahead!”

“This isn’t full speed!?”

You scoffed, “You’re riding a DRAGON.”

  As if that explained everything. Internally, Tony rolled his eyes, well how would HE know the maximum speed of a _DRAGON_!?  

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Tony stepped off the dragon, a little disoriented but hyped up.

“That, was amazing. We should do that again,” he said as he swayed trying to take a step forward.

You reached out to steady him, and offhandedly wondered if today is the most amount of physical contact you’ve ever had with Tony.

“Careful now,” you said as you counter-balanced him. Giving up on toughing out his mild dizziness, Tony decided to just lean on you for support, after all, it was perfect excuse for him to have your arms around him. He marvelled at how much strength your lithe arms had, looks were so deceiving.

“How come you’re not disoriented,” he complained as you walked him to the starter village.

“Practice,” You replied easily as you looked around for a place to sit. As the game was closed today, only NPCs roamed the town.

 “So what’s this like an RPG?” Tony asked as you put him down on the nearest stone bench, which happened to have carvings of, you guessed it, a blue eyes white dragon on it.

“Pretty much, there are several stories in the VR system, the one that’s usually online is set in ancient Egypt, based on the history of duel monsters.” You explained.

Tony looked around at the NPCs who were dressed in a mix of sci-fi and medieval looking clothes and cocked an eyebrow at you, “I didn’t know they had velvet back in ancient Egypt.”

You punched in him the arm, “Don’t play dumb with me, you know as well as I do that this is a different game.”

Of course, Tony being Tony just grinned mischievously at you and you being you, melted on the inside and forgave him, not without an exasperated sigh of course.

“This is a game that’s still under testing, well technically it’s finished, but Kaiba-sama doesn’t want to launch it yet because Mokie hasn’t finished clearing it yet,” you clarified, at which Tony hummed in reply, not really interested in the information provided.

“So, what else I can do in here?” Tony asked, excitement shining in his eyes.

You couldn’t help but find it adorable, Tony, acting like a child, all excited about a role-playing game.

“Well, eat, kill monsters, clear dungeons, you know, the usual RPG thing,” you shrugged and Tony looked deflated.

“That sounds boring.” You grinned, knowing he would say that, “And smith magical weapons and fly.” You finished off.

“Smith magical weapons?” Tony’s eyes perked up.

   You smiled inwardly, you just can’t stop a builder from building.

“Yup, here ,aside from the basic chemistry elements, there are magical elements too and you can combine them and imbue them into weapons…sort of like alchemy, it’s a really complicated system to explain,” you trailed off, but Tony’s brains were already spinning at the possibilities of new elements to play with. That and new destructive toys he could make.

“So I could make the electric sword you were playing with just now,” he said, contemplative.

“Or you could make a magical disc that shoots out different destructive elemental beams,” you suggested.

Tony looked at you, eyes wide in surprise and excitement, “Like a magical repulsor beam?”

“Exactly like a magical repulsor beam,” you confirmed.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Tony got up and proceeded to run off enthusiastically in a direction.

You stood your ground…and in moments Tony ran back again.

“Where is the armory my dear lady?”

Once again, you took Tony by the arm and dragged him off to the training field, “Before that, let’s get you geared up and warmed up.”

  You were pretty sure that Tony was pouting, but in truth, Tony for once was not pouting. Why would he be when you were dragging him by the arm? Coming to Japan, Tony decided, was definitely a brilliant idea.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Tony decided that Seto Kaiba was an evil man, if not evil that definitely sadistic. That man obviously did not believe in hard work, he believed in raw skill and talent.

 After being brought to the training field and them embarrassingly knocked down by an adorable piglet (training monsters), Tony demanded to know what were his strength stats and speed stats, to which you honestly replied, “There are none.”

 Apparently the game reflects whatever strength, speed and physical prowess you had in real life. There was no levelling up system to increase your attack power or defence, you were you who you were, except in a virtual reality where pigs could fly. Tony wondered if so, does this game even have any mass market appeal but dismissed the thought, this isn’t his company’s product, and being a super-hero, he obviously has no problems with the game’s realistic parameters. After getting a hang of the battle system, you finally brought him on quests to collect materials for smithing, and though Tony would never admit, he actually enjoyed the game immensely.

 He had never thought that he could feel so much achievement from defeating monsters, solving riddles and finding treasures, but he did. Though the game’s concept was simple, the fact that it felt so real, made the experience magical. Being able to feel your muscle straining against the attack of a wolf makes all the difference in satisfaction when you finally defeat the monster. And being able to hold and feel the coolness of mythril in your hands was surreal.

  You watched the sunset from the window of the armory in a hidden village in the game and turned back to Tony who was hard at work.

Within the first 15 minutes, Tony and his genius mind had figured out the alchemy system and was soon hard at work creating original weapons that would probably be banned by GMs for being overly powerful in any other game, but you knew Kaiba would approve, if you’re too dumb to make super-weapon, that’s your problem.

Tony had spent the remaining hours tinkering away, playing with different metals and shapes. You had first thought that Tony wouldn’t be able to build without JARVIS, but boy were you wrong. Tony definitely can do hardware.

You bit your lip as Tony flexed his muscles, hammering away at a piece of elven silver to temper it into a hardness he needed. You pretty much just sat there throughout his black-smithing, staring.

You weren’t bored of course, staring at a shirtless, sweat-covered Tony couldn’t possibly be boring. It helps that for once, you could shamelessly stare and burn the details of his naked torso into your brain. Although normally, Tony wandered the house shirtless from time to time, you could never truly look in fear of being teased.

You knew of course, that it probably wasn’t healthy to have such…impure thoughts about your boss, but you were head over heels for this man and you were only human. But beyond the wonderful display of Tony’s body was his expressions. Often also busy at work while you stayed with Tony in his workshop, you never could watch him closely.

Now that you have the chance, you realized just how passionate he was about creating things. You found that the look of focus and determination on his face when he was building things made you love him even more.

You felt special, to be able to see the usually casual and laid-back Tony focused, serious and in the element he loves the most. You could practically feel the joy radiating from him, and you wondered, with the weight of the world resting on Iron Man’s shoulders, if Tony felt such joy anymore from building. But he was happy now, and that was all that mattered to you. It was also worth all the begging to get Mokuba to hack the codes to give Tony full access to the game’s features without actually clearing all the quests.

Tony looked up from his latest handiwork and noted the sun, or the lack of it, in the sky and apologised, “I’m so sorry I got carried away…”

“It’s fine,” you reassured him, “I like watching you work.”

You smiled and Tony smiled back, albeit bitterly, “That’s good, Pepper didn’t…”

  And your heart clenched at the sound of the name. Perhaps it was the fact that this wasn’t reality, or perhaps it was the forlorn look on his face, whatever it is, you somehow found the courage to take the initiative to hug Tony from behind.

“But I do, I love watching you work, it’s really inspiring to see you in your own element.” You said sincerely as you rested your head on his naked back, ignoring the fact that his sweat was getting on you.

You felt Tony froze at the contact, or was it at your words, but did not let go or your arms that was around his waist. Slowly, Tony placed his hands around yours, and muttered a soft “Thanks”.

  No one has ever said that they liked watching him work before, no one, not once, much less said they felt inspired by it. Everyone always got on his case of working, for tinkering, for living in his workshop. The only person who liked him building was Obadiah, who liked it for the fact that a tinkering Tony meant more new weapons to be sold.

Tony couldn’t remember the last time someone was genuinely happy to watch him build, he also couldn’t remember the last time he built things just for fun and didn’t have to worry about his designs causing the next war or being used for world domination. Tony doesn’t know what he did to deserve the solace you bring him, but he wasn’t about to complain. For a moment, just a moment, Tony felt that he finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel, that what he loves doing is finally justified, even if it’s only recognized by one person. It’s enough for him.

The tender moment seemed to stretch out forever and you were content to let it continue, however both of you needed to eat (real food, not virtual food) and there was still one more thing you wanted to share with Tony.

“…Tony,” you called out softly, not caring that using his first name may result in serious teasing later on.

“Yea?”

“There’s one more thing I want to show you,” you whispered, afraid of breaking the moment.

“I think you’ve showed me enough things for today, I’m not sure I can take anymore magical surprises,” he joked as he loosened his hold on your arms.

Taking the cue you slowly released him from the hug. “Please? It’s really special to me,” you looked at him with pleading eyes.

Tony wondered if you knew that he will never be able to say no to you if you used those eyes on him, “If you put it that way, lead the way.”

And you did.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You stopped at the foot of large tree, or what Tony thought was a tree. It was more like a giant crystalline structure that glowed a soft ice-blue from within. Under the moonlight, it was breath-taking.

“I hope you like flying,” you quoted him.

“What?”

 Before Tony could react, you grabbed him by the hand and propelled the two of you upwards, towards the top of the tree. Having been through dragon-riding, Tony quickly adjusted to the feeling flying ‘naked’, as you so aptly put it, and stared at your face as you flew both of you up the tree. He has never seen you so happy, eyes shining this brightly, not even at circuit did you have this look. The look of pure elation. He could literally feel your love for flying, it almost seemed as if it was in your blood. It seemed different from the joy that he felt while flying.

  For Tony flying was exhilarating, it was exciting and blood-pumping. For you however, flying seemed liberating and tranquil; if he had to compare, flying for you was like building for him. It was your element; and Tony couldn’t help but wonder, were there people who were born to fly?

You settled the two of you down on the branch and for a moment, both of you just took in the amazing view of the stars and the glowing crystal leaves beneath you. And then you spoke.

“It took me 6 months to get the system to work.”

“System?” Tony asked.

“The flying system, apparently the math behind a human flying by controlling the wind was, and I quote, ‘A fucking bitch’.”

You chuckled at the memory of the Kaiba brothers complaining, but neither would give up after watching your determined face to be able to fly without wings.

“I spent 6 months as the guinea pig, testing the system…and falling to my death,” You smiled at the memory.

“Why?” Tony asked.

The pain in the game was very real, he couldn’t imagine repeatedly falling to your death from unimaginable heights for 6 months. But you did so willingly, in exchange to fly without aid. He wanted to know why.

“This probably sounds crazy, but, I always feel like the sky is calling me, like I need to be part of it, to come home to it. I know flying on dragon-back is flying too but it’s just…different, it’s like, I’m not part of the sky, I’m not one with the wind…” You trailed off. “My mom says I get it from my dad,” you finally said after a moment of silence.

 Tony respectfully kept quiet.

“Apparently, when he was a kid, he climbed up the Tokyo Tower and jumped, because he wanted to see how it feels to fly,” you said.

“He obviously survived,” Tony prompted.

You nodded, “Yea, he did. I was told that a giant crow came out of nowhere and caught him mid-air…I didn’t believe the story until I saw a news article about this.”

  Suddenly, without warning you, took off your shirt, resulting in an alarmed Tony.

“Whoa, hold it right there, now I definitely appreciate the…” his worlds trailed off as he stared mesmerized by the glowing wings and words on your back.

“Wind beneath your wings,” he read and you nodded.

“It’s a UV tattoo, you can only see it under UV light…but a glowing crystal tree works too.” You then put your shirt back on and turned around to look at Tony.

“Is this what you wanted to show me?” He asked and you shook your head.

“I don’t really know why I showed you that,” you laughed to yourself, “I guess it’s cause you let me watch you work? I don’t know…I just really wanted to share flying with you.” You said as you held out your hand to him. This time, Tony grabbed it without any hesitation and you let both of you fall out the tree before taking flight again.

It was time to go home.

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“So, what do you think about the VR pods?” You asked as you drove back to the Kaiba Mansion.

“It’s amazing,” Tony breathed out, “Not that I can’t do better that is.” He added as an afterthought. “But all this just for a game?” He questioned.

You briefly wondered if you should tell him the truth, but you supposed hearing it would help him too, “This was originally a VR system for pilots, to control scouts, bombing planes etc. But then Seto took over and he turned it into a whole new world.” You said, intentionally switching from Kaiba’s surname to his first, because the VR system was originally Gozaburo Kaiba’s.

At the mention of military application, Tony grew silent, eventually, he found a reply he deemed appropriate, “Well I’m sure I will find an applications for this during the Stark Expo.”

  You smiled, his sentiments were much appreciated, but personally you thought that the VR world was already being used perfectly.

 “I know it doesn’t seem as beneficial or revolutionary as the arc reactor and clean energy thing you’ve got going on, but Kaiba-sama isn’t doing this to change the world. He’s just doing it to make people happy, and sometimes, that’s all we really need…“ You said without thinking.

Whilst you were not as close to the elder Kaiba as you were the younger, he did once tell you that even before his parents died, his dream was to design games. When you asked him why, Kaiba said, “Because Mokuba looked really happy playing them.” His words struck a chord with you, which was one of the reasons why you were willing to fight for him.

“Ha, who knew, the cold hearted Seto Kaiba, the next Walt Disney.”

You laughed at Tony’s comparison which really isn’t that inaccurate. But then you couldn’t help but think of another comparison, “You know, you two are really similar…you and Kaiba-sama.”

Your words were obviously unexpected as Tony replied with an indigent, “What!?”

You continued to elaborate, “Both sons of weapon makers, both turned the business from dealing death to dealing a better tomorrow for the world…and both incredibly stubborn.”

Tony cranked up the radio and pouted all the way back to Kaiba Mansion.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAND the Japan arc has reached the end! 
> 
> Kudos and comments are the love.
> 
> Thank you all for your support so far! I'll do my best to update soon!!


	10. Walking out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! 
> 
> Yes, while most people celebrate Lunar New Year with food and family/friends, I celebrate it by writing. 
> 
> This is the longest chapter in the story so far, like seriously long. I kept wondering when is the chapter ending as I edited it. 6000 over words. 
> 
> Hope you guys like it!

  May 29th. Oh how you wish it would never arrive.

May 29th, better known as Anthony Stark’s birthday, is around the corner. That means, planning the biggest birthday party of the year. If you thought that organizing the Stark expo was nightmare, this was much much worse. If people clamored to sponsor and participate in the Stark Expo the same way they clamored for Tony’s birthday party invitation, life would be so much easier. And you couldn’t even ask JARVIS to block these requests because more than half of them were printed mail. Of course, you could just happily chuck it all in the bin, but then your unfortunately responsible self just wouldn’t afford the risk of leaving out some important VIP because of your laziness. And so…go through the piles and piles of letters it is.

“How’s my favourite PA doing?” Tony waltzed in, coffee in hand and wrench in another.

He was building another ARC reactor, though you wondered what else in this ridiculously energy sufficient building would need another super-powered generator.

“I’m your only PA, Mr Stark,” You corrected him.

Expectedly, he pouted. “Now, what did we say about the ‘Mr Stark’ business after 8pm?”

“I’m just messing with you Tony,” you replied with a sigh as you folded yet another self-invitation to Tony’s birthday bash.

“Aww, what’s wrong?”  He asked as he walked over to your side of the workstation. You gave him ‘the look’ and gestured at the pile of letters which covered your table.

“Just make it an open invitation and let everyone come,” Tony said as he carelessly swept some letters off the table to make space for his butt.

The words budget and maximum occupancy flew to the tip of your tongue, however you swallowed them back, it’s not like the playboy billionaire cared. So, you opted for changing the topic, “AC/DC has agreed to play for your birthday.” You watched the rare moment of Tony’s eyes lighting up and bugging out.

“Like, for real.”

“Yes Tony, for real.”

“YES!” Tony lept of the table and started dancing around the room, “JARVIS, music?”

“But of course sir.”

The victory dance around lasted for a full song as you watched in amusement. This is what makes all the calls and hard work worth it. Eventually the music died down and Tony smoothed out his shirt like he wasn’t imitating Elvis just seconds ago.

“You are the best,” he said as he got behind you and started giving you a massage.

“Tony, what are you doing,” you said as you bit back a moan, damn is he good at this. Your sore shoulders sang praises at the man’s massaging skills but this was both inappropriate and oddly arousing, which means it had to stop.

“Tony,” you groaned.

“Yes, my lady?”

“Could you please stop this?”

The movements stopped but Tony’s hands lingered on your shoulder, instead, he peeked his head over your shoulders with a classic puppy dog pout on his face, “But…but, I’m just expressing my deepest gratitude to you with a massage…”

You sigh and swirled around on your chair to face him, “It’s fine Tony, this is my job.” You smiled reassuringly.

“It’s Pepper’s job too, but she never let me have AC/DC at my birthday parties,” he grumbled.

You felt your heart clench at the casual mention of the woman’s name. It seems like no matter what you do, you’ll never stop being compared to the great Pepper Potts. But then you could never stand the crestfallen look of the man before you, even when it’s faked, so you relented.

“Look, you can ‘express your deepest gratitude’ some other way alright? I’m just…ticklish,” you lied.

You felt dread pool at the pit of your stomach when Tony’s face lit up, too quickly to for it to be anything good.

“GREAT! I was hoping you’d say that. Come on now, get off your arse, we are going dress shopping!” He said with flourish and proceeded to drag you out of the workshop.

“What!?” Was your only coherent response.

 Were there even shops open at 3am in the morning!?

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  You tugged uncomfortably at the designer cocktail dress Tony got you, you still cannot believe that the man flew you guys to France for a freaking dress, but then again, this is Tony we’re talking about here, you shouldn’t have been so surprised. On the stage, was of course, the star of the day, Tony Stark, delivering his very egoistical birthday speech. You had not had the chance to take a good look at Tony today, after making his breakfast and laying out his clothes, you had to run off to pick up AC/DC from the airport, check on the decoration, food and security. By the time you actually got to take a breather and get dressed, it was almost time for the party and you were once again back on your feet, welcoming people at the reception (and throwing un-invited guests out).

Tony himself, was of course, fashionably late, which means he missed you at the reception because by then you were dragged off by one of the event co-ordinators to resolve some technical issues for AC/DC’s performance. You were pretty sure that Tony didn’t miss you though, as last you checked, he was swamped by celebrities and models alike. The only good thing about this party was that, unlike other functions that Tony had to attend, everyone knew that there would be no (business) ‘mingling’ at a Stark birthday party, which also meant that you didn’t have to entertain any guests on Tony’s behalf.

As your mind was wondering, Rhodey had been invited on stage to say a few good words about his good friend, judging from the flow of things, this speech would probably last for a while longer, and so, obeying your sore legs, you retreated to the nearest available chair, which happened to be at the bar.

“Hey,” a familiar voice greeted as you plonked yourself down, as elegantly as you could, onto the nearest stool.

“Oh hi Captain!” you replied quickly as you realized that the man in tuxedo before you was none other than the famous Captain America.

“Steve is fine, Ms (l/n),” he said sheepishly and you replied in kind.

“Then (f/n) is fine too.”

“Deal,” the superhero answered with an infectious smile that caused you smile back at him.

“What would you like, Miss?” The bartender on duty asked.

  Out of reflex, you wanted to order a Mizuwari, only to remember that they don’t serve that outside Japan; not really wanting to trouble the bartender too much, you resigned to ordering a simple whisky on the rocks. The bartender nodded and moved to serve your drink, and you quickly shifted your attention to Steve so that you didn’t have to watch the bartender’s sloppy moves.

“So why aren’t you over there with the rest of the Avengers,” you gestured to the group near the stage.

The blonde took a one last swig out of his drink and replied, “It’s Stark’s birthday after all, thought I’d do him a favor and stay out of his way for just tonight…can I get blood and sand please?” 

“That’s very…considerate of you,” you said as you watched, painfully, as the bartender tossed the vermouth bottle and caught it with his other hand before pouring it into the sugar and scotch mix. Flair bartending…you groaned inwardly, as cool as it looked, great hand-eye coordination doesn’t exactly translate into great tasting cocktails.

“Uh…can I get something non-alcoholic?” Yet another face popped up next to Steve.

“Hey Bruce,” the captain said to the newcomer as he took his now-finished drink from the bartender.

You tried your best not to grimace at the drink and chose to greet the doctor instead, “Hi Doctor Banner, why aren’t you with Mr Stark?”

The genius physicist cocked his head in the general direction of the crowd and you saw Tony, along with the members of AC/DC, surrounded by fangirls and let out an understanding “ah…”

  An awkward silence hung over the bar, as the three of you mulled over what to say.  Almost everyone else at the party were enjoying the rounds of wine and champagne that was being served, which meant the bar really was quite unnecessary, and you wondered why they set up one in the first place. Just as you thought that, a, who you guessed was a Victoria Secret model waltzed up with a few friends in tow and asked for some shots. So that’s what the bar was there for. The bartender nodded and put down the Shirley Temple he was making to serve the girls’ order.

  You being at the end of your tether, stood up abruptly and asked the bartender as sweetly as you could, “You mind if I borrowed the bar for a bit?”

You weren’t sure if he knew you were Tony’s personal assistant, or that he just couldn’t give a fuck, the guy nodded and you got behind the bar in record time and began assembling a Virgin Cosmopolitan for Bruce.

“You seem to be very familiar behind a bar Ms (l/n),” Bruce commented as you shook his drink in the shaker.

“I used to work as a bartender back in high school,” you replied as you served his drink.

  Just as you wiped your hands clean and was about to return to your seat, another gentleman came over to order a Martini. You were about to defer him to the original bartender, until you saw said bartender flirting with the models…you heaved a defeated sigh and decided to just take the order instead. One order became 5, and soon you had pretty much taken over the bar. Steve and Bruce watched amusedly while you served drinks to the sudden flux of guests. Apparently word got out that there was a bartender mixing some very nice drinks at the bar and soon a crowd was forming. 

“Oh oh, can you make the layered cocktail thing?”

“You mean a Pousse-café style drink?” You asked for a confirmation.

The girl before you, whom you swore you’ve seen before (probably one of Tony’s many one night stands), nodded vigorously. You uttered a “sure” and was about to start making the order before the red sea of people was parted, by none other by Tony Stark himself.

“I was wondering where my lovely assistant went, and look where I found you! I did not buy you that beautiful dress just so you can stand behind a bar and mix people drinks…oh and hi Bruce and Cap,” Tony greeted his two teammates as an afterthought.

“Sorry, force of habit,” you said as you continued to make the girl’s order.

Tony gave you a raised eye-brow, which you returned with a shrug, sensing that you weren’t about to leave the bar, he took a seat next to his teammates instead, “Well if you are going to continue to make drinks, then make me something!” He demanded childishly.

  You smothered a giggle at his antics, “But of course master,” you replied dramatically, but didn’t stop layering the drink that you were already making. As if on cue, the owner of the order sandwiched herself rudely between Tony and Bruce and clung onto Tony’s arm.

“Hey Tony! Remember me?”

  The response to her actions were immediate, other girls in the crowd swarmed up to grab Tony too, Bruce quickly excused himself before he went Hulk on all the girls smothering him to get to Tony and Steve shook his head, sighed and took another sip of his drink. All this time, you just smiled professionally, despite getting mentally ticked off at the unruly crowd at YOUR BAR..hanging on YOUR Tony-

  ‘Just Tony..’ you mentally corrected yourself, the man before isn’t yours and never will be. You quietly placed the girls’ order before her, not expecting her to actually take notice of it now that the fight for Tony’s attention is on. Tony, being Tony, ravished the attention and so you went about making Tony’s drink.

You didn’t actually get Tony anything for his birthday, simply because you don’t know what to get him that doesn’t already have, that and there really wasn’t anything you can get that Tony can’t afford, so your original plan was to make him a special cocktail after the party ended, however since the opportunity presented itself, you might as well make it now. It was a custom cocktail, and you had spent weeks designing it, based around Tony’s likes and dislikes from color to taste. The centerpiece of the cocktail however was the ice, it took you a while, but you finally figured out how to carve Iron Man’s mask onto an ice ball. Taking out a paring knife and a huge chunk of hard ice, you began the lengthy process of creating the ice Iron Man mask.

Suddenly however, the crowd of fangirls quieted down and you stopped your carving too.

“Excuse me miss, I’m afraid Mr Stark needs to attend to his birthday cake now, so if you would all make way before I call security to escort you out.”

It wasn’t a voice you were familiar with, but it was a voice that you knew…At the subtle threat, all the girls quickly filed out, leaving one elegant woman, who now commanded the attention of the room, standing opposite of Tony.

“Pepper..”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Pepper,” Tony breathed out. Said woman smiled warmly at him and walked over to the take the now emptied seat next to him.

“Hi Tony, long time no see, you too Steve,” she said naturally, as if nothing was wrong.

“Oh, (f/n)! I didn’t see you there, what are you doing behind the bar? Tony, I didn’t get you a new assistant for you to stick her behind the bar, what are you thinking?” She chided.

You quickly moved to defend Tony, but was cut off by the man himself. “I’m sorry Pepper…uh…what are you doing here? How are you? You look great…” He rambled on.

  And she did, you agreed inwardly, but not without a pang of jealousy. Pepper Potts looked effortlessly beautiful and sophisticated in her dark blue ball gown and flowing reddish blonde hair. You knew that you didn’t look bad in the dress Tony bought you, but standing next to her, you felt like a child playing dress up.

“Would you like something to drink? How about a Martini? Dirty? With extra olives?” Tony continued enthusiastically.

You really didn’t like seeing Tony so eager to please…but it wasn’t your place to intrude, and Pepper didn’t look offended at all.

“Yes Tony, that would be nice,” She replied warmly with a smile.

“You heard the lady,” Tony gestured to you casually without taking his eyes off Pepper, and it hurt, it fucking hurt. Suddenly, you were just another bartender, did Tony even remember you were here? You too deep breathes to calm yourself down, ‘be understanding’ you told yourself, obviously Tony would be overwhelmed by the presence of his ex…so much so that he just waves you off like some random bartender!?

“Sorry,” Pepper mouthed at you when she realized that there was no other bartender in the vicinity, you smiled politely at her and made her order at break-neck speed. You were getting out of here before you stabbed anyone with anything. Thankfully, the moment you placed her martini on the bar top, Steve came you your rescue.

“(f/n), Natasha’s looking for you,” he said as he gestured to a random direction across the room.

You nodded numbly and excused yourself politely. Taking his cue as well, escorted you away from the bar after exchanging a few polite words with Pepper. Unbeknown to you, when Steve brought up your name, Tony finally remembered that it was you who was behind the bar, and it dawned on him that he was probably incredibly rude to you just now…because of Pepper. And at that Tony’s train of thought abruptly went back to the woman before him, with no space for anything or anyone else.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Of course, Natasha wasn’t looking for you, she wasn’t even in the room anymore. Steve led you to the obligatory terrace that all ball-rooms had and you heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thanks…” You uttered as you composed yourself.

“You like him don’t you,” Steve pointed out perceptively.

You choked out a bittersweet laugh. “I don’t,” you said, and Steve regarded you with a pointed look. “I love him,” you let out with a sigh.

 Evidently, your confession caught the captain off-guard because he kept quiet for a few moments.

“Sorry…” He finally said.

“What for?” You asked, confused.

 “I don’t know, just seemed like the right thing to say,” Steve replied honestly, and you both laughed.

“So Tony eh…” Steve began, and you shot him a look.

“Yes yes, I know, horrible idea, don’t know what I see in him and all that…” You retorted grumpily.

Steve quickly put his hands up in defense, “Hey, I didn’t mean it that way! Stark and I have our differences but deep down he’s a good man. You can tell from how much he loves Pepper…uh..sorry…” Steve apologized again at his own slip.

You laughed at his honesty, “It’s alright, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I don’t already know anways…it’s just…it still hurts to see it in real life you know?”

The cool breeze caressed your face as the both of you stood in companionable silence.

“You can go in first you know? The cakes really good, I’d know…” You said to Steve.

Of course you’d know, you had a hand in making it, not that Tony knew.

“You sure?” Steve asked.

You nodded, “Yea, I’ll come in once I get myself sorted.”

“Alright then,” Steve acquiesced and started making his way back into the hall…until a gunshot was heard and someone screamed.

You and Steve exchanged alarmed looks and dashed back into the ballroom, back to Tony. You spotted him in the centre of the room, with Pepper next to him, the half-eaten cake before them. He held onto her protectively as he scanned the room for danger.

Rhodey who was also next to them quickly assessed the situation, grabbed the mic and gave out orders. “Everyone, calm down. The place is under attack, however the assaulters are outside the room, at the main foyer. If everyone will just remain calm and make a speedy exit through the kitchen, everything will be fine.”

  All the guests quickly filed out of the ballroom, in an organized mess. As the crowd dispersed, Natasha came running in, guns in hand.

“It’s the same people who attacked the Kaiba mansion, Clint’s outside dealing with them now, there are 15 of them in total, Captain you coming?” she said curtly and motioned for Steve to follow her into battle.

  Steve nodded and moved to follow Natasha out, only to be stopped by Tony.

“You stay here and protect Pepper and (f/n), I’m going,” he said as he pushed Pepper into Steve’s arms.

Natasha rolled her eyes, “They are after YOU, Tony.”

“Then it’s personal,” he said as he began suiting up.

  Knowing Tony’s stubborn nature, Natasha didn’t bother with more dissuading and instead went back out into the fray, Steve remained, unsure of what action to take.

Pepper struggled out of Steve’s hold grabbed Tony’s unarmored arm pleadingly, “Please, stay? It’s like Natasha said, this isn’t your fight.”

The incoming armor pieces stopped short in mid-air as Tony’s gaze softened…and then the armoring continued.

“I’m sorry Pepper, I have to go.”

“WHY!?” She burst out.

“This is just like the last time! Why can’t you ever listen, why can’t you just stay by my side!? Why do you always have to choose being Iron Man over me!?”

  An awkward tension immediately washed over the 4 of you at her outburst. Now all suited up, with only his face showing, Tony grabbed Pepper by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, “I’m sorry Pepper, but I don’t want to lose you, I love you too much to lose you. I have to protect you from any harm that might come your way.”

You knew the human heart was made out of muscles, but you were pretty sure you felt your heart break at that confession. Steve placed an arm on your shoulder sympathetically, but you shrugged it off…you were stronger than this…you had to be, you swore to yourself never to be a victim of heartbreak ever again.

On the other hand, the fight continued between the estranged couple.

”Dammit Tony, I can’t lose you either…I don’t want you to get hurt, please, just stay with me.”

But evidently, Tony had made up his mind and casting an apologetic glance at Pepper, the Iron Man mask closed with a solid ‘thunk’ and tony blasted out, into the battle.

Pepper collapsed into a heap onto the floor, in tears. “Dammit Tony! Why must you always try and get yourself killed..”

Steve caught her and held her comfortingly.

  You bit your lip, hard. You knew that the woman was just looking out for Tony, just concerned. But her pleas and tears grated on you for some reason. Tony is a fighter that much was obvious even to you. Why can’t she just accept that? Hence, despite her tears, Pepper Potts was slowly grinding on your nerves.

“(f/n), take Ms Potts, I’m going after Tony,” Steve said as he passed you the sobbing Pepper Potts.

Instead of taking her however, you pulled off the shawl that you were wearing and stretched your arms.

“Take her somewhere safe,” you said, tone stern.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Going to make sure my boss doesn’t get himself killed.”

  At that, you dashed out of the ball-room, leaving Steve to wonder if it was possible for women to run that fast in heels.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“15 assailants my ass,” you said as you twisted the arm of an incoming attacker out of its socket. The man screamed and you placed a well-aimed kick on his neck, knocking him out.

“Back-up arrived,” Clint, who landed in a backflip beside you answered your annoyed comment as he let out another arrow at one of the large human-sized robot suits that was thrashing at Natasha.

  You quickly assessed the situation, there were 15 suited attackers, just as Natasha had said, although 6 of them were down thanks to Tony, Clint and Natasha’s combined efforts. However, there were still 30 over men in spandex suits…who moved in a way vaguely reminiscent of Ninjas…Another one came lunging for you and you ducked…only to slip because of your heels.

  You managed to catch yourself with your hands, but the poor landing position not only sprained your wrist, but also caused the enemy’s attack to graze your ribs and you felt your rib crack.

“Fucking heels…” you gritted out as you pulled the stilettos off your foot and threw it at your attacker. Said man deflected the on-coming shoe and charged at you, you tried to trip the man with a low sweep but your attacker predicted your move and jumped. Pretty certain that he can’t move in midair, you kicked him in the face with your other leg…and felt the sickening feeling of the heel of your stiletto pierce through the man’s neck. You grimaced at the strange feeling and pulled your feet from the now dead man.

“Well…I guess heels aren’t all that useless…” You said to yourself as you left your shoe lodged in your attacker’s corpse.

On the other hand, Tony was finishing off the suits, who were all making a grab for him. Evidently, the suits were nowhere near Iron Man’s caliber and were made quick work of. It wasn’t long till Clint and Natasha dispatched the rest of the enemy and a helicopter appeared above the scene. Standing at the door of the helicopter was none other than Nick Fury.

“Agents, with me. Stark, Helicarrier, 15 minutes.”

SHILED agents swarmed into the scene from god knows where and began cleaning up/retrieving the enemy. From the corner of your eye, you saw Steve escorting Pepper onto a SHIELD van as Natasha whisked you onto the helicopter with her.

  So that’s it then?

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You sat at the medical bay of the Helicarrier, with some unknown SHIELD doctor looking over your wounds. He injected some serum that he said would reduce the healing time of your cracked ribs to a few days and told you to stay off your bad wrist.

“How you feeling?” Natasha asked as she got her second degree burn wrapped by a nurse.

“Remind me to never fight in heels ever again,” you groaned and she laughed at your misery.

  All was peaceful, until one frazzled Tony Stark entered the room, with Pepper and Steve in tow.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why did you follow me!? Gods, see this is why I told you to stay with Steve, you could have died out there and-”

“Tony, stop it.” You started softly, anger slowly rising.

  So now he remembers you.

“You need to stay away, stay safe. You need to be protected, damn it I never learn do I? Always putting the people around me in danger” Tony continued his panic attack.

“Tony, stop it.” You repeated again, this time more forcefully.

“Pepper’s right, I should have never left, now you’re hurt and…”

Pepper, Pepper Pepper Pepper, everything is about Pepper…you can’t help it, you snapped.

“FUCKING HELL TONY, STOP IT!” You screamed as you punched the man in his face.

Motion in the medic bay stopped to stare at the two of you, but you were just too angry and tired to care.

“I’m sick and tired of you comparing me to Pepper Potts! I’m not her fucking god damn it!” You screamed in his face.

For once, Tony looked genuinely speechless, “I’m not…”

You cut him off before he could even get started, “Shut the hell up and listen to me for once!”

  You were heaving now and you could feel your sprained wrist starting to sting, punching him with your injured hand probably wasn’t the best idea.

“I’m not Miss perfect Pepper Potts, and I don’t need you to protect me! Yes, I do have a cracked rib and a sprained wrist but so fucking what? I end up with injuries twice as bad while cage-fighting. What must I do to prove that I’m not her? I don’t need to be coddled or protected from your enemies. I won’t ever have a panic attack and break down every time you fly off to save the world or blow people apart. And I most certainly will NEVER stop you from jumping head-first into some crazy, life-threatening stunt to save the world. Hell, I’ll be right there next to you bashing people’s heads in! I have no fucking idea where this misplaced guilt is coming from, but until you get yourself together, I don’t want to see your face ever again. Good bye Tony.”

  And so, with everyone watching, you stormed out of the medic bay.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  While you vented your frustrations on Steve’s punching bags, Tony was in his room…with Pepper, who was trying to console him after your outburst.

“Don’t take it too hard Tony, she’s just stressed, she doesn’t mean all that,” she said as she cradled Tony in her lap.

  Tony hmm-ned noncommittally, you did mean all that, what confused Tony was why you were upset. He wasn’t comparing you to Pepper, he would never, the two of you are so vastly different. Then why were you upset? Was it because his concern made you feel as if he didn’t respect your fighting skills? That wasn’t quite it…you only truly got mad when he went into his panic attack…so you were mad because he was having an anxiety attack? That seemed closer to the truth but Tony felt like he was missing something there.

“Don’t worry about it Tony, she’ll get over it and apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m glad that you see now that you shouldn’t have left…”

Tony held the hand of the woman he loved with mixed feelings. And he thought back to the conversation they had at the bar…

_Flashback_

_“How have you been Tony?” Pepper asked._

_“Good…” Tony answered a little too quickly._

_He knew he must seem like an idiot now…Somehow Pepper has the ability to turn him into a stuttering schoolboy with a major crush._

_“That’s good,” Pepper continued with a smile._

_“So uh…” Tony racked his brains for more things to talk about, “How’s Happy?” Only to mentally smack himself for the horrible question he just asked._

_“Oh Happy…um…he’s doing well, he was in Ibiza last I checked,” Pepper answered, a little awkward._

_“Ibiza?” Tony repeated, unsure._

_“Yes…um...actually we got divorced last month,” Pepper admitted, a little uncertainly._

_“Oh.”_

_At this admission, Tony’s mind ended up performing some serious acrobatics, simultaneously feeling elated and guilty at the same time. He knew Pepper well, he knew that she wasn’t the type of woman to just run back to his arms after a divorce, so she must be here for another reason._

_“Yea…So I was wondering, I mean I know you hate discussing work at your parties, wonderful party by the way, (f/n) really did a good job with it-“_

_Tony tuned Pepper out for a moment at the mention of your name, (f/n), with Pepper back, where does that put you? As confused as he was, Tony knew that whatever feelings he had for you were sincere and real, you weren’t just some rebound. Pepper’s hands on his arm snapped Tony back to reality however._

_“So I was wondering as embarrassing as it is to ask, if you need a CEO again? I mean, I honestly don’t want to sound like I’m using you and Stark Enterprise, I really tried looking for other jobs, you know me, I just can’t stay at home and do nothing, but, well, apparently if you have CEO of Stark Enterprise on your resume, everyone thinks you’re overqualified and doesn’t want to hire you anymore.”_

_Tony listened intently and smiled reassuringly at her in response, “Don’t be silly Pepper, the doors of Stark Enterprise is always open for you. It’s as much your company as it is mine.”_

_And Tony meant every word of that. Stark Enterprise wouldn’t be how it is today without Pepper._

_“Aw..thanks Tony…” Pepper blushed…and after a moment of consideration, she kissed him on the cheek, leaving Tony to blush heavily._

What exactly does Pepper want with him? She knows he still loves her, but hasn’t made a comment about that statement, however, both her outburst and her current actions point that she’s definitely still interested in him…shouldn’t he be happy? Isn’t this what he always wanted? So why is he so confused? Why does it not feel right to be lying in Pepper’s lap anymore?

“Yea..you’re right,” Tony acquiesced and sat up abruptly. Pepper nodded, stunned at his sudden movement.

“You should…go to bed, I’m sorry for causing you yet another bad evening,” Tony apologized tiredly.

Pepper placed her hand on his reassuringly, “It’s alright Tony, I don’t mind.”

A tiny part of Tony screamed ‘LIAR!’ at her response, but Tony just nodded.

“Stay with me?” She asked as she motioned to the empty spot beside her on the bed.

As tempting as the offer was, it just didn’t see appropriate.

Tony shook his head in declination, “Sorry, Fury wants to see me to ‘discuss’ the attack.”

“I see…well come to bed soon okay?”

Tony nodded and left the room with a heavy heart.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony never did make it to bed that night, he was busy tinkering in the lab with Bruce, trying to get his head straight. It was much easier to think without Pepper’s comforting, but distracting caress. Despite all the thinking, Tony only came to two conclusions, the first was, it’s definitely his fault that you’re upset, and the second, he wasn’t sure about how he feels about both you and Pepper. Not very conclusive conclusions they are.

Bruce, being Bruce, stayed quiet to let Tony think, sometimes the guy just needs space. However, both of them were human and needed to eat, so at 9am, Bruce declared that it was time for breakfast, and so to the cafeteria they went.

After exhausting your body, you showered and slept, but sleep was fitful and you decided to screw sleeping and just grab breakfast early. Apparently, someone else had the exact same idea as you, someone named Pepper Potts.

“Oh hi, good morning (f/n)!” She greeted cheerfully.

“Good morning Ms Potts,” next to Tony, she was the last person you wanted to see.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

 ‘Like shit…’ you mentally replied, but of course, this was the woman who got you your job, it wouldn’t be very nice of you to be rude to her.

“I’ve been better, but I’m alright,” you answered diplomatically.

“That’s good to hear…I was a little concerned after your outburst yesterday,” Pepper lamented and it took you all your years of skills to not choke on your croissant.

  Why must she bring up yesterday!? And so, since she had to open the Pandora box, you had to continue the regrettable conversation.

“Yea…about yesterday, I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t offend you or anything.” You choked out as sincerely as you could.

  Apparently you sounded more apologetic than you thought and Pepper smiled warmly at you, “That’s quite alright, I totally understand. Dealing with Tony can be so stressful, it happens to all of us. I’m sure you don’t mean what you said. You will go apologize to Tony after this won’t you?” She smiled sweetly..a little too sweetly.

You narrowed your eyes slightly, but you did mean every word you said yesterday…however owing to courtesy, you decided to let this matter slide.

“I guess I should…but only after he’s calmed down. I just, don’t really like seeing him like that. All that self-loathing…” You trailed off.

Pepper however seemed to have misconstrued your meaning of ‘self-loathing’ as she began to rant.  

“Oh yes, I do not understand Tony’s need to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders. It really is getting out of hand, he doesn’t need to protect the world, we SHIELD for that…”

‘Control…’ you repeated in your head…does this woman even know what she is saying!?

“And the building, he just keeps building and building, and forgets everyone around him…it’s really not healthy how much he builds…must be hard for you isn’t it?” Pepper looked at you sympathetically…except you totally did not share that sympathy.

Why would you? Tony’s always so excited and happy when he’s building, it’s such a joy to watch. But you weren’t about to say that to her, instead you just hnn-ed with no real meaning, obviously Pepper saw that as an agreement though and the rant escalated.

“I thought things would get better after he blew up all those suits of his…”

…What?

Apparently you were so stunned that you voiced that thought out loud.

“He blew up his suits after the whole Mandarin thing, all 42 of them, he even got his arc reactor removed and I thought he was going to put all these Iron Man thing behind him. And then he just started building again!” She heaved out a huge exasperated sigh.

But you weren’t really concerned about her exasperation, no, you were more concerned about the blowing up his suits part.

“Why did he blow up his suits, all 42 of them!? They must have taken ages to build!”

“Well…uh…” In contrast to your bewilderment, Pepper suddenly became really shy and embarrassed, “It was sort of his Christmas present for me, you know, to show me he’ll change…I was so glad that he did that…” She trailed off shyly.

Glad? She was GLAD that Tony blew up all his suits just to prove his love!?

“Ms Potts, with all due respect, you asked Tony to blow up his suits just as a declaration of love!?”

“Yes!” She answered happily and that honestly was the last straw for you.

“Why the fuck would you do that!?”

“They were distractions! But then you know what, he just went right back to building afterwards!”

“Well of course he did, what the hell do you want? For him to stop building!?”

“YES!” Was Pepper’s loud and definite response.

  She looked at you, raw emotions on her face, and you suddenly understood. You understood why she left him. Unfortunately for her, you weren’t sympathetic in the least.

“Ms Potts…” You started, now your face a vision of calm, “I know it’s not my place to say this, but Tony will never stop building. A Tony who doesn’t build isn’t Tony. Building makes him happy, it makes him feel alive, it’s who he is. And if you don’t know that, then I don’t think you know Mr Stark as well as you think you do. Have a good day.”

 And so, for the second time in 24 hours, you walked out of a room in the Helicarrier with a gaping audience.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Unknown to both Pepper and you, Tony and Bruce saw the whole thing.

“Bruce, I think I’m going to go somewhere and…think.”

Bruce nodded blankly, “Yea, you go do that.”

  In another room in the Helicarrier, sat Fury, Natasha and Agent Hill.

“Well that escalated quickly,” Hill commented.

Natasha however looked deep in thought.

“What’s wrong Agent Romanoff?” Fury asked.

“Doesn’t Ms Potts feel a little off to you somehow?”

“Elaborate,” Fury commanded.

“I’ve worked with her before, she usually isn’t this…unguarded…or emotional, well at least not to outsiders. And I’m sure she isn’t close to (f/n)…she’s been acting strange since the party…” Natasha tried to explain.

Fury nodded, “Agent Hill.”

Said agent nodded, “I will send some people to keep an eye on her.”

Fury nodded satisfactorily…however there was still a feeling in his gut that said that something was about to go horribly wrong.

  “Commander Fury, Professor Sumeragi is here.” An anonymous agent informed over the intercom.

  “Good, assemble all relevant personnel in the lab, we’re going to find out who is behind all this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I realize that Pepper is a little OOC here, but it's for a good reason, I SWEAR! 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading. Even more thanks for those who left kudos and comments! 
> 
> Much love! <3


	11. It's never too late to apologize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holidays and comments makes for a very motivated authoress! (This chapter is even LONGER, 9k words @.@ my god, only all your support kept me going as I edited it...)
> 
> So here is the next chapter! I hope things aren't moving too fast..but even if they are, I give up. This story has long since spiraled out of my control, it has a mind of its own, I'm just doing my best to make sure this little monster somewhat adheres to the storyline I mapped out. 
> 
> Oh yes, and disclaimers: I OWN NOTHING! 
> 
> What else did I forget...Oh right, Air Gear crossover begins in earnest in this chapter! 
> 
> For those of you who have never watched/read the anime or manga for Air Gear, go do it now! It's awesome. 
> 
> But if you're too lazy, it shouldn't affect you reading the story much, because our dear OC, Miss Akane Aoi will explain most of the Air Gear related jargon! 
> 
> Somethings you may need to know to help you understand he story better though: 
> 
> -Minami Ikki is protagonist of Air Gear, at the end of the story he's known as the Sky King (basically the strongest storm rider (people who ride Air Treks)). This guy is your dad, but he doesn't know you exist because he had a one night stand with your mom and she never told him she got pregnant. You inherited your love for flying from him. (In the comic,he jumped off the Tokyo Tower because he wanted to see how it feels to fly, crazy kid.) 
> 
> -Sumeragi Kururu is a main character in Air Gear, she's known as the Pledge Queen, and in the manga, she was last seen on a helicopter leaving USA, in a lab coat. This is your mom. Now in the comics, she's always had the biggest crush on Ikki, but they didn't end up together. Ikki chose Ringo. The Pledge Queen is basically the most powerful Tuner in the Air Gear universe. She can tune/de-tune AT based technology in matter of minutes. 
> 
> Tuning is basically the adjusting and modifying of any AT technology to fit the user. Even in the comics, the basis of this skill is never clearly explained, but Tuners all have superhuman senses (ability to tell the time without looking at the watch, ability to hear sounds most people can't hear etc.) and uses their own body to feel/collect information of the physical condition of the person they're tuning the AT to. Someone who has AT tuned to them can perform beyond their usual skill level and so it only stands that the opposite can be achieved as well. 
> 
> I'm sure all you smart readers can figure the rest out. If not there's always Google?

In an empty corner of the Helicarrier, by the window, sat one Tony Stark, mulling.

“I really fucked up didn’t I,” Tony said to no one in particular.

“Yes you did Tony, yes you did.”

“Come to mock me now have you captain?” Tony drawled sourly without looking up.

Steve let out a short laugh and sat down next to the billionaire. “You know the girl I wanted to…fondue?” Steve started, and to his credit, Tony snorted at the insiders’ joke.

“What about her?”

“While I tried to chase down an enemy car, barefooted, she sniped their wheels with one shot of her pistol,” he reminisced.

“Impressive,” Tony whistled at the information.

“She was, and yet I never got to take her on that date I promised...she was on that line you know, until that very last moment when the ship sank beneath the ocean,” Steve sighed, he wasn’t in the mood for a sad love story right now.

”What’s your point captain,” Tony choked out tiredly.

“Peggy…she never stopped me from doing what I wanted to do, what I was meant to do, even though she knew I could have died. Instead, she helped me the best she could to make sure I wouldn’t die. Because she knew that’s who I am, that’s why she was interested in me, even back when I was just a scrawny little kid from Brooklyn.” Steve laughed, mostly to himself, at the last part.

Silence hung in the air once again as the two heroes stared out at the evening clouds.

“The point is Tony, some women are worth protecting, some women are worth fighting for, but a very special few are worth fighting _with_. Ms Potts is a wonderful woman, but does she know who you really are? Does she accept who you are? Is she capable of staying by your side and support you to be who you are? Think about it.”

With that Steve, for once, left the almighty Iron Man speechless and deep in his own thought.

Is Pepper the one? He looked at the clouds gliding by the ocean and thought back to all the times they spent together. She was there when he was kidnapped…she was there when he came back. Her at the ball, in that stunning blue dress, the first time he ever saw her as a woman. Their almost kiss on the rooftop…Then he thought back to all the hardships they went through together. Obadiah’s betrayal…that time when she risked her life and snuck into Stark Industries for him.

Without her, Rhodey probably would never have found him and he probably would have died on that floor that night. She put up with every single one of his selfish whims…she even saved him with that suit of his. And that fight with Killian…honestly, had it not been for Pepper, he would be dead.

But most importantly, he will never forget, that time she stepped in to help him replace his arc reactor. He trusted her so completely, his life was literally in her hands…although, Pepper being Pepper, couldn’t help but have her mini-meltdown… a wry grin crossed Tony’s face at her frantic reactions when he went into cardiac arrest.  That was the moment he realized that she was all he had in his life.

But it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies in their relationship…it really was more laser beams and aliens. Despite the many precious memories they had together, each and every one of them were either preceded or succeeded by a fight for some sort. Like that time she walked out of the room when he woke up with a panic attack, accidentally calling his suit to him. Or that time when Maya showed up unannounced. Pepper was also incredibly pissed when he named her CEO…and disappeared for days…then there are the countless times he almost killed himself.

 Okay, so being his girlfriend sucked and Pepper had every right to be mad at him….come to think of it, she was always mad at him…and he truly feels sorry for that. However, although Tony would never tell Pepper this, he honestly doesn’t think that it’s his fault. He is who he is, he will always be the brash, slightly egoistic and moderately irresponsible person that he is. Personally, Tony didn’t think he’d be much fun if he was an uptight genius with no sense of humor. So he may be a little much at times...okay maybe TOO much at times, but after working with him for so many years, Pepper really should have just gotten used to it.

“But she didn’t, she couldn’t.” A tiny voice in Tony’s head stated softly but firmly.

He always knew that didn’t he, Tony thought to himself. Pepper had been tolerating him all these years because she loved him. But that’s the problem isn’t it, tolerating. Tolerating isn’t the same as accepting, and Pepper, the sweet kind-hearted woman that she is, will probably never accept Tony for who he is. She will always worry every time he flies off in his suit, she’ll know he has to, she’ll tell him he has to…but she’ll never be happy with it.

“I can never make her happy,” Tony realized.

  As much as he loved Pepper…he would never change for her and she would never come around…they would never have worked out.

“We DIDN’T work out…” Tony whispered in realization.

  They have tried and they have failed. That’s why it felt so wrong to be in Pepper’s arms, even though he still loved her, they weren’t right for each other, not anymore.

“But with (f/n)…” Tony thought to himself, you understood him in ways no one else has. Sure, the two of you have not known each other for long, but you accepted him for who he is, and if that outburst in the cafeteria was anything to go by, you like him for who he is.

“She even stood up for me…when’s the last time someone did that?” Tony chuckled to himself.

Tony looked out the window again and heaved a sigh of relief; he may not know where you and him stand at the moment, but one thing was certain, Pepper isn’t the one, and he needs to let her know that.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  After your outburst, you had nowhere better to go, so you decided to pay the infirmary a visit. You’re not sorry for snapping at Ms. Potts but you knew that you were out of line and that you had complicated the situation unnecessarily. You buried your head into your hands and resisted the urge to bang your head against something hard, the medic on duty probably wouldn’t appreciate that.

“Ms (l/n)?” The medic called out.

You looked up at him with questioning eyes, “Yes?”

“Director Fury asks that you report to the lab for a debrief…and he asks that you bring Mr. Stark with you.”

Obviously, both this medic and Fury were clueless about what happened the night before, you were probably the last person Tony wants to see. But orders were orders, and so, resignedly, you got on your feet and set out to pick up the troublesome playboy billionaire.

On the other side of the Helicarrier, was Tony. He was man on a mission, a mission to talk to Pepper. He knew that Fury called for a meeting, but Fury could wait, this matter takes precedence. Tony opened the sliding door to his room and walked in briskly.

“Pepper, we need to talk.”

Said woman looked up at him and lept to her feet, “You’re back! I was so worried that you didn’t come back last night…”

Seeing that his words had fallen on deaf ears, he tries again.

“Pepper, I’m so glad to see you again, but we really need to-“ Tony felt his words cut off by a familiar pair of lips pressed against his. Was this actually happening? Did Pepper just kiss him out of the blue?

Of course, as fate would have it, the door to his room slid open for a second time that day and there you stood, stunned at the intimate scene. Tony quickly pushed Pepper away, but judging from the blankness of your face (he’s come to realize that whenever your school your face into a blank expression, that usually means you’re pissed), you definitely saw what happened. Tony groaned internally, great, now you’ve misunderstood the situation.

You eyed the couple cooly as you tried to keep yourself in control. A myriad of emotions ran through you, anger, sadness, disappointment…finally you settled on resignation. Of course it would come to this. This is Pepper Potts, Tony’s dream woman, you could never compete. This was the way things should be.

Taking a deep breath, you broke the awkward silence, “Director Fury would like to see everyone in the lab for a meeting now.”

Your tone came out much more even and professional than you expected and you were glad. You didn’t want to complicate things more than you already have. Having done your job, you quickly ducked out of the room, leaving the couple alone.

“Well…” Tony began as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, “Fury calls…” He trailed off, as if that explained everything and ran out of the room, leaving Pepper to stand there, alone.

  Talking to Pepper could wait, he had an assistant to catch.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You walked into the lab, head down and heart heavy, you knew you probably should have tried to mask your sadness, but you couldn’t be bothered, the past 48 hours were turning out to be way too dramatic for your tastes.

  “You alright?” Steve asked, causing you to break your train of thought and look up. And you wished you hadn’t. Standing in the middle of the room, next to Director Fury, was the one woman you never expected to see ever again, much less on the Helicarrier.

  Both Fury and the woman stopped to look at you, causing you and her to exchange glances. You saw her eyes widen perceptibly before she turned away and continued talking as if you weren’t there.

  You scoffed, typical, first time she sees her daughter in 13 years and her reaction is still the same, pretend you don’t exist. Well if she wants to be a stranger, then you can be strangers. Technically, you guys are strangers anyways, you growled as you thought back to your childhood.

_You were 6, it was mother’s day, you had come home happily with a card that you made in school just for the occasion. As you kicked off your shoes, you gave the card another once over and a confused frown marred your face. Your teacher had insisted on writing ‘Mrs. (l/n) on the card, but you were sure your mother’s name was Kururu Sumeragi, so naturally, you corrected your teacher._

_The kind old lady patted your head condescendingly and told you that that’s your mother’s maiden name and that because she married your father, she has the same last name as you. There was only one problem with that answer._

_‘But I don’t have a daddy,’ you answered truthfully._

_You teacher’s reaction was priceless…her mouth hung agape as she abruptly stood up and walked away._

_Shrugging, you hope your mom would like the card even if her name was written wrongly. You ran as fast as your tiny legs would carry you into her office and found the woman at her desk, drawing out complicated sketches._

_“Mommy! Look!” You held up the card._

_Said woman looked up from her work and smiled at you, a smile that never quite reached her eyes. You never knew why, until you were much older that is, why her smiles would never reach her eyes, and why her eyes always had a tired look in them when she looked at you._

_‘No, looked past me,’ you corrected yourself mentally._

_Even when looking at you in the face, your mom’s eyes would always seem to look past you, like she was trying to pretend that you weren’t there. She took the card from your wordlessly and you saw her face contort into many different expressions, none of them happy._

_She settled on a forced smile and scared that you had displeased her, you quickly added, “Mommy…I’m sorry the name is wrong…my teacher won’t listen, she says that you have daddy’s last name, but I don’t have a daddy! I still hope you like it…” Your 6 year old self trailed off uncertainly._

_You just wanted her to be happy, to smile at you honestly for once. Obviously you had said something wrong as she had stiffened at what you said, slowly, she handed the card back to you and went back to staring at her work._

_“Dinner’s on the table, eat it and go to bed,” she said it as gently as she could…but it didn’t matter how gentle her tone was, she wouldn’t even look at you. Why does she never want to look at you!?_

_Dinner that night was exceptionally salty, because that’s how tears taste._

_Then you turned 12, and you had a nanny, you practically never saw your mom, and the few times you bothered to ask why, your nanny would look at you, sigh and mutter something about ‘Minami Ikki’, and after getting  the woman drunk once, you found that this ‘Minami Ikki’ person was your dad. And the thought made you stiffen, if your dad’s last name is ‘Minami’ and your mom’s last name was ‘Sumeragi’, why the hell was your last name (l/n)!? At 13 you had confronted your mom on the matter, and the only answer you got was a frustrated, “It’s for your own good.” You hadn’t bothered to bring up the issue since, not that you saw the woman anymore._

_You had resigned yourself to your strange naming situation by the time you were 16, there were enough clues dropped around for you to figure out that you were your dad’s bastard child, whom he probably doesn’t know about. You had googled the man and noted how similar the two of you looked…which explained your mom’s pained looks whenever she looks at you…and why she prefers to not look at you at all. Understanding doesn’t equate to forgiving however and you wondered why your mom even gave birth to you if she can’t stand being reminded of the man. You’d both be happier this way. You had pretty much made peace with the whole issue until you applied for your bartending job._

_You needed the job to support you and your then boyfriend, the only job that fit the bill (both figuratively and literally) was bartending…but at 16, you were far too young to even be considered. Desperate, you sought out the resident hacker in your school to amend your legal documents…and that’s when you found out._

_“You never told me you’re an orphan,” your friend said as he looked through your registry._

_You looked up from the cocktail recipe you were memorizing at that comment._

_“What? I’m not an orphan,” You stated, scandalized._

_“That’s not what it says on your records.”_

_“WHAT!?” Fear and confusion coursed through you as you pushed yourself up from the floor and scrambled to the computer._

_“See for yourself,” he said as he pointed at your birth certificate._

_You scanned it once, twice and then three times. There were no records of a mother or a father…_

_”But…” You grabbed the keyboard from your friend and frantically typed in the name of your mother…only to find that there was never a record of her having a child._

_But…you were so sure…_

_“I…I need to make a call…” You said, voice faint._

_“You alright?”_

_You didn’t reply as you ran out the room, phone in hand. You had your mom’s number for emergency reasons…or was she even your mother? You dialed and after many rings, she finally picked up. You had, as calmly as you possibly could, without blowing your cover of hacking your own documents, explained that you found out that your were listed as an orphan and wanted to know if you were adopted. Because being adopted would answer so many questions… But the woman’s answer was the same._

_“It was for your own good.”_

_“What was for my own good!? Not knowing that I was adopted!? That I’m an orphan!?”_

_She never answered, and you kept pushing, until she snapped._

_“YOU’RE NOT ADOPTED! I WISH YOU WERE, BUT NO, YOU HAVE TO BE OF MY FLESH AND BLOOD, MINE AND HIS! Why can’t you just accept that it’s for your own good!? It’s for your own good, everything I’ve done is for your own good…” she said as she trailed off._

_You were stunned but before you could say anything, the line had been cut off…and the next time you tried to call, that number was no longer valid. That was the last time you heard from your mother, until now._

A girl with long ash grey hair stood obediently next to Dr. Sumeragi. As an assistant who has worked with the woman for the past 9 years, she knew something was up the moment you and her mentor locked eyes. But her mentor whom she admired oh so much had pretended that nothing was wrong, and so will she, at least for the time being. Who are you? Why would the great Sumeragi Kururu react to some personal assistant of Tony Stark? Speaking of the devil…

“Hi guys, sorry I’m late, caught a few guys playing solitaire along the way, figured I’d give them a lecture or two, save Fury the trouble…”

Not that anyone was convinced by Tony’s tale, and not that Tony expected anyone to be convinced, he just needed to make an entrance and ease the tension.

The rest of the avengers rolled their eyes at the lame excuse and Fury shot Tony one last glare before launching into his briefing.

“Thank you all for gathering here, I have called in one of our specialists, Dr. Sumeragi here, to help us identify the situation, I believe that she has made some progress, Doctor, if you will.”

  Your mom nodded and took Fury’s place in the centre of the room, behind the large table where the remains of one of the suits that was wreaking havoc at Tony’s party laid.

“Thank you Director Fury. Let me introduce myself, my name is Kururu Sumeragi and this is my assistant, Akane Aoi. We are from SHIELD’s R&D department, specializing in AT technology.”

“AT?” Both Tony and Bruce echoed.

“Yes, AT, it’s a technology that was developed in Japan in the early 90s for space exploration, although the project was ultimately scrapped, the technology lived on.”

  Satisfied for the time-being, Tony motioned for her to continue.

“We were called in as SHIELD could not identify the origins of the technology used to make this suit, after some tests, we have confirmed that this suit is based on AT technology,” she explained.

  Everyone in the room nodded and Steve followed up with a question.

“So, besides SHIELD, who has access to this technology?”

“After the passing of the pioneer of ATs, I am the only scientist and leading expert in this field…” Sumeragi started uncertainly.

“You don’t need to be an expert to have access to a certain technology,” Natasha cut in ruthlessly.

Evidently, Ms. Aoi doesn’t take people being mean to her boss very well as the girl quickly snapped back, “The only other ‘access’ to this technology are some punks in Japan, where they still play with Air Treks,” she snarled.

“Air treks?” Bruce asked.

Aoi scoffed, “AT, Air Treks. Aren’t you supposed to be a scientist?”

  Bruce merely smiled, getting angry would be a very bad idea, but always the reliable friend, Tony got mad on his behalf instead.

“Well I’m sorry that we aren’t all informed of your little jargon, obviously it’s not important enough to make it into our textbook of revolutionary discoveries.”

  Bruce glared at Tony, but with no real venom. Aoi seethed and was about to make a comeback when your mom cut her off.

“I apologize for my assistant’s behavior, the flight here was long. Air Treks are the basis of AT technology. After the project was shut down, some prototypes for the project leaked out in the form of advanced roller-blades and was picked up by some extreme sports enthusiasts. Storm Riding, as the sport is called, evolved from there, but rest assured, the Air Treks that is accessible to the public in Japan are extremely primitive and there are neither resources nor knowledge for them to build something as advanced as what we see before us, or whatever SHIELD has at our disposal.”

You wanted to cry foul, the Air Treks that are accessible in Japan are only primitive now because you mom made the market so, had it been two decades back, any random Air Trek company could have built a suit like the one on the table easy. You held your silence however, there was no need to blow your own cover, a cover that your mom is so desperate to keep.

“Well but someone must have built this,” Clint said as he gestured to the remains on the table.

  Your mom frowned and nodded, she was about to say something when the door to the room opened to reveal Pepper Potts.

“Ms Potts, I’m afraid you are not privy to this meeting,” Director Fury said as the woman strutted in.

  The woman smiled and said nothing as she continued walking until she was directly in front of Sumeragi. You saw Natasha’s body tense, ready to strike any time. Whilst you thought that her reaction was an overkill, you had to agree that Ms Potts was acting very strange.

“Hi, I’m Pepper Potts, nice to meet you, and you are?” She said as she held out her hand for the brown-haired doctor to shake.

  Natasha’s stance relaxed a little when she was sure that Pepper wasn’t holding any dangerous weapons. So maybe the woman is just PMSing?

“Um…I’m Kururu Sumeragi, nice you meet yo-!!!”

  Just as your mom reached out to shake Pepper’s hand, Pepper threw her over her shoulders and ran out of the room at break neck speed.

For a moment, everyone was stunned. What just happened?

“Clint!” Natasha yelled out as she broke out of her stupor and ran after Pepper and the now kidnaped doctor.

“WAIT! DON’T HURT PEPPER!” Tony yelled out as he ran after the two agents.

“Alert all agents, the base has been compromised, I repeat the base has been compromised, put the Helicarrier in lockdown NOW. I repeat, lockdown mode NOW. We have a mole on the ship.”

  Beside him, Agent Hill has already started barking orders to have Pepper intercepted.

“Damn it!” Tony let out, at this rate Pepper is going to be in danger, he doesn’t know what is going on, but he’s sure that Pepper is innocent!

  Finding his current speed too slow, Tony called his suit to him and managed to catch up to the two agents.

“Don’t hurt Pepper!” He said as the two agents readied their gear.

“Don’t worry, these are just knock-out arrows and guns, we’re just going to sedate her,” Natasha tried to console Tony without taking her eyes of Pepper, if that really is Pepper.

  Last she checked, the mild-mannered woman couldn’t even lift weights, and here she is, outrunning the best of them with a fully-grown woman over her shoulder. The blank look in Pepper’s eyes worried her as well. Just as Clint released his arrow, he was distracted by the desperate cries of the female doctor.

“No, don’t sedate her! She’ll die if you do!”

  Everyone’s eyes widened at this piece of information, but it was already too late. Tony couldn’t risk blowing up the arrow without hurting Pepper, the same goes for Natasha…they could only hope that Clint’s arrow misses…but Clint never misses. Milliseconds passed slowly, and a mere inch away from target, the arrow was sliced cleanly in half.

  Down the hall-way, to their left, was you, with your gloves, Clint eyed where his arrow had fallen and squinted, there it was, the almost invisible wire that had saved the day.

Your entrance distracted everyone, including Pepper, and this gave the chance for the door at the corridor to be locked down, leaving her trapped.

“Well great, we can’t hurt her, we can’t sedate her, now what?” Clint asked.

“She’s being controlled…” Aoi’s worried voice echoed through the intercom.

  You nodded at the statement, not that anyone noticed. You closed your eyes and listened for the sound that your mom had taught you in the brief 8 months she spent with you after your 13th birthday. You had not practiced this skill for a long time and was out of touch…but sure enough you located the source of dissonance within Pepper’s body, the AT parasite ran through her spine, inside her nervous system.

  Had the arrow actually reached her, the parasite would have sensed her system shutting down and terminated her life.

“Well in that case what should we do? Knock her out physically?”

Natasha asked, before anyone could reply, Pepper had already launched herself at the female agent, hoping to bring her down. Out of reflex, she moved to place a knock out strike on Pepper’s neck.

“No don’t!” Both you and Tony chorused.

  The latter pushed Natasha aside, his metal body slamming the assassin away. Natasha sat up from the collision, rubbing head back in pain and glared at Tony.

“What was that for!?” Natasha yelled at Tony.

“It’s Pepper!”

“And she’s being controlled!”

  The sound of paper rustling sounded through the intercom and Aoi’s voice broke through again,

“Subduing her physically is out of question too, if the bots in her sense that she’s compromised in any way, she will be terminated.”

  Tony shot Natasha a pointed look and the woman glared back. How as she supposed to know!? But the real question is, what should they do then?

Pepper crouched against the wall like a corner animal, your mom still across her back, and you debated. Should or should you not reveal your skills? This wasn’t something that was listed on your records and it’ll raise far too many questions. But on the other hand, this is Tony’s true love you’re talking about. It would kill Tony if she died, and that’s the last thing you’d want.

Taking deep breaths, you readied yourself for what you were about to do. Although you knew how it worked theoretically, the crash course your mom put you through was just that, a crash course, and you’ve hardly practiced this skill ever since. You knew however that you can’t afford to mess up, not with the life of Tony’s love on the line.

‘I can do this’, you thought to yourself. As much as you hated it, you were your mother’s child, her blood flowed in your veins, whatever you lacked in experience, you made up for with pure talent. ‘Cervix, hip-bone then mid back,’ you muttered to yourself repeatedly. You only get one shot at this.

Without any notice, you launched yourself at Pepper, Tony screamed for you to stop once he saw that you’ve lashed how, you taped the nape of Pepper’s neck gently, then slammed your palm into her hip-bone and finally slapped her mid-back with considerable force.

Tempo was everything in this, if you slipped up even by a nanosecond, Pepper would die, but you didn’t and you heaved a sigh of relief as you heard the dissonant sound in Pepper quiet down. Said woman slumped in your arms, your mother in tow and you caught the two of them tiredly. That had been absolute hell on your sprained wrist. Before you even got your bearings however, Tony had grabbed you by the collar, still in his armored glory and lifted you off the ground.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!? YOU JUST KILLED HER! YOU KILELD HER!” Tony roared in your face.

You opened your mouth to retort but Tony’s hands had now clamped around your neck, “You killed her,” he spat as you gasped for air.

 You looked into Tony’s eyes, eyes that are now filled with nothing but rage and loathing, and you felt a slow burning sensation spread through your chest, a sensation that you were sure had less to do with your windpipe getting crushed, and more with your heart breaking.

“Tony,” Natasha said warningly, “Calm down…”

“Stay out of this Natasha,” Tony growled back at her.

  For moment, it was just Tony’s furious glare and your dejected stare, until your mom piped up in a voice that was almost softer than a whisper.

She’s alive Mr Stark, she’s alive.”

“What!?” Almost immediately, Tony dropped you and you landed on the ground in a painful thud.

  He turned his attention to Pepper and sure enough, she was breathing. Tony slumped forward in relief and moved to cradle her in his arms. She was alive…Pepper was alive. News of Pepper’s sedation obviously made its way round the carrier as lockdown was relieved. Through the now open doors came Bruce, Steve and Aoi. The latter made a beeline for your mom, the former moved to lay a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulders. Only Steve made a move to help you up.

“Are you alright?” He asked, and promptly beat himself up for asking such a stupid question.

  Your neck was lined with bruises the exact same shape of Tony’s hands, tears were threatening to fall for your eyes, no you were not fucking alright. The man you loved had almost killed you, for saving his love. You bit your lip hard enough to draw blood, you wouldn’t cry, not here, not in public.

“You should get that looked at,” Steve gestured gingerly at your neck.

“I’ll take her,” Natasha said, but you stood up and waved all of them off none-too-gently.

“I’ll be fine, I just need to go break something.” You gritted out as you stumbled out of the hallway.

You don’t think punching bags were going to cut it this time.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony watched intently as Pepper laid motionlessly on the bed with Sumeragi scanning a white colored, gun-looking contraption over her. Aoi stared intently at the computer screen and the room was in complete silence. If only the minds of the occupants in the room were equally silent.

Aoi had saw what you did, at first she assumed that you were just going to take down Pepper, but then she saw the way, the speed and the tempo at which you had struck the woman on the table. Those weren’t disabling strikes…she would know, because those very strikes were what she had been struggling to master for the past year.

“How did she knock Pepper out without killing her?” Clint finally asked.

  Indeed, that was the burning question on everyone’s minds. Your mom stopped her actions for a brief moment as she contemplated the safest answer. Being the terrible liar that she was, Sumeragi opted to speak the truth…or at least, a part of it.

“She de-tuned her,” she stated simply as she resumed her task of atomizing the parasite in Pepper’s body and drawing it out from her.

“De-tuned?” Bruce asked.

Sumeragi nodded, but did not answer the question. Knowing that her mentor was deep in focus, listening for remnants of dissonance in the patient’s body, Aoi answered on her behalf.

“Part of AT technology is tuning…the…synchronizing of the human body with the machine.”

  Obviously her answer only served to confuse the occupants of the room more and despite being irritated, Aoi continued to clarify.

“AT technology can be used in many ways, one of the most popular applications are as wearable equipment. In order for these equipment to work at their maximum capabilities, they must be ‘tuned’ to the biorhythms of their user. De-tuning is the opposite of this, it’s disruption of the equipment’s synchronization with its user, lowering its efficiency, sometimes even rendering it useless,” Aoi concluded.

 Everyone nodded understandingly, so that’s what you did.

“That’s the last of the nanomachines, she’s clean now, she should wake up in a few days, probably quite sore as her body was pushed to its physical limits, but otherwise she’s fine,” your mom looked up at Tony with a genuine, reassuring smile.

  At that, Tony finally let out a sigh that he didn’t know he was holding. While Tony let relief flood his system, what flooded Natasha’s system was wariness. This tuning skill was not listed anywhere on your records, hell there were no mentions of anything AT related on your records…

“How common is this tuning ability,” she asked.

“As we said before, Air Treks are still relatively popular in Japan, and tuning is really an extension of that application of AT technology…she’s from Japan is she not?” Your mom asked, although deep down she knew the real answer.

Natasha nodded and the woman smiled.

 “There you go then, it’s not all that unlikely for her to know tuning.”

  Yea, it’s only unlikely that she’s skilled enough to know how to de-tune someone…only someone with Sumeragi’s skills could achieve that. Just who on earth were you and what was your relationship with Dr. Sumeragi? Aoi’s eyes narrowed in determination, she would get to the bottom of this.

Tony, who has finally calmed down after hearing that Pepper is okay, felt a second onslaught of dread pool in his stomach. According to this woman’s explanation, you had just saved Pepper’s life…and he just tried to kill you. Could he have fucked up anymore today…

He hadn’t really meant to hurt you, he was just furious, he was scared, the potential loss of Pepper, of another person in his life blinded him and he didn’t know what to do but to take it out on you. But he should have trusted you, trusted you to do the right thing… Gods, he really messed up. Tony buried his face in his hands and sighed as he recalled the moment when he had you choking in his hands…the look on your face of pure despair and dejection… He had hurt you…he needs to go make things right.

“Do you know where’s (f/n)?” Tony asked.

Natasha shook her head, as did Clint, Bruce and Steve.

“I see..” Tony whispered.

“We’ll find her for you,” Steve said and he motioned for the group to follow him in the search for you.

  Not used to a depressed Tony, everyone followed him wordlessly, leaving Tony to mull over his grave mistake.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Clint’s surprise, it was he who found you, in the agents’ training room. Dozens of men and women sat around, some nursing wounds, others cheering as you decked yet another SHIELD agent with a merciless punch. Another challenger stepped up to take the loser’s place, but was intercepted by Clint.

“Alright guys, party’s over,” he said.

Everyone eyed the senior agent with well-masked annoyance but obeyed his orders. They were the military after all, ranks were ranks. You of course, not being part of the organization and also royally pissed off, did not enjoy the dismissal of your punching bags.

“I was in the middle of something…” You grounded out.

Cling levelled your glare with a smirk, “I doubt Fury would be too happy knowing that you’ve been incapacitating his men, besides they’re not even a challenge for you.”

You huffed but didn’t retort, he was right, these agents were pussies compared to the cage-fighters back home.

“Care for a fight?” Clint asked as he picked a bow off the shelf.

“Not a spar?” You asked.

Clint grinned devilishly at you, “I’ve got a score to settle with you.”

“What?” Was your intelligent answer.

“Oh you probably don’t remember, but you stole my kill. Thanksgiving, Osaka,” Clint replied as he tested the tension on the bow.

  Thanksgiving in Osaka? You racked your brains for any mission you had in relation to those keywords and Clint…and suddenly it hit you. That was the ball where the host was stupid enough to try and hold Mokuba hostage, without thinking you had sliced the man’s head off…along with an in-coming arrow…oh…

“Oh..” You uttered.

So that’s why Clint doesn’t like you, you stole his kill…accidentally.

“As you may know, I never miss,” Clint said as he pulled the bow and released a practice arrow.

You caught it with your hands before the arrow could make contact with your face.

“Care to test that theory?” You felt your blood boil at the challenge, maybe you’d get to vent your frustrations after all.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha pulls punches, Clint doesn’t. It’s hard enough to battle him without your gear while he has access to unlimited arrows, but this was the distraction you needed. There was no room in your head to think about Tony’s vice grip crushing your wind-pipe or the kiss you walked in on, no, there was only dodging and hitting; and those, you were good at.

Your wrist was burning, and your neck was sore, but your sensitivity was at an all-time high. So tuning does have battle applications after all, you could see the tensing of Clint’s muscles and predict his next moves…you just lacked the means to reach him (‘stupid long-range fighters) or the stamina to close the distance between the two of you.

You ducked yet another arrow and made a move for the bo staff on the wall, this should help even things out. You weren’t terribly talented at staffs, or any conventional weapons for that matter, but how hard could it be to hit stuff with a stick right?

Clint paused to reassess the situation, you had a weapon to deflect his arrows now he had to tread more carefully. The two of you stood at still for the briefest of moments, and then, it was time for the final attack. You weren’t in the mood for anything aside from head-on violence and Clint couldn’t be bothered to trick-shot you at point blank range, so a melee brawl it would be.

Clint released an arrow that went straight for you, hoping to slow you down, and it did as you took time to deflect the arrow. Then you lept up and Clint brought the bow up to parry your strike. For a moment it was a battle of pure strength and you weren’t about to lose thanks to the physics of fulcrum and loads, until a familiar voice broke your concentration.

“Whoa whoa whoa, no need to kill each other over this,” Tony announced.

Both you and Clint stood down. The archer shot Tony a look which Tony returned, sighing, Clint took that as his cue to leave.

“Well it was nice fighting you (f/n), we should do this more often,” He said as he placed the bow back on the shelf.

  You grunted in acknowledgement, trying to look anywhere but at Tony. Tension filled the room as Clint made his way out the training centre, leaving you and Tony alone. An apology remained firmly stuck in Tony’s throat, as much as he knew he had to apologize to you, he also knew that an immediate and sudden apology will only seem flippant. But how on earth do you broach the subject of almost killing someone?

“That was violent,” Tony began, beating around the bush as usual.

You hn-ed in response and began to do your cool down stretches.

 Tony stood at the same spot, merely watching as silence reigned supreme once again. His eyes trailed over the angry purple and red bruises on your neck and winced, he really had hurt you…

Tony ran his hand through his hair gruffly, how is he supposed to fix this. You continued your stretches despite his obvious stare, because if you didn’t, your next reaction would be to beat the shit out of him. And as pissed off as you were, you couldn’t bring yourself to hurt him.

“I um…overheard the conversation in the cafeteria.” He said suddenly and you froze.

  Well…that was awkward, but you still continued to ignore him.

“Those suits…there really were a distraction you know,” he continued his little monologue and you continued to pretend he wasn’t there.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my babies, it’s just…it was an obsessive period for me, I didn’t know what to do except build, those suits, they didn’t symbolize who I am, they symbolized my fears, my trauma…my weaknesses, that’s why I blew them up.”

  Mentally, you oh-ed, so you had mistakenly blew up at Pepper too, he WANTED to blow up his suits. Great, now you feel even worse. To expand your new-found frustration, moved from stretching to doing kicks, because kicking always helps.

“But I’m really, really touched that you stood up for me! Honest! No one’s ever done that, so…thank you.”

  You halted your kick…annoyance coursed through you, so were you right or were you wrong for blowing up at Pepper? In your annoyed confusion, you shifted your stance to perform a round-house kick instead.

“That’s not healthy you know,” Tony said as he watched you continued physical exertion, “I’m no doctor but I don’t think you’re supposed to be training and fighting with those injuries.”

  Injuries that he had caused, Tony thought bitterly.

“Everyone needs to vent,” you finally answered coldly and continued your kicking.

“So violence is your solution?” Tony joked.

You gave him a pointed look and kicked in his direction, narrowly missing his head. Tony resisted the urge to flinch.

“I mean that in a good way?” Tony tried and you gave him a deadpanned stare, he took that as an incentive to continue. “Look, I build stuff to cope, well to be accurate, I build obsessively to cope…so the stuff I build as an emotional crutch…not stuff I’m proud of,” he finally finished.

“And I beat shit up to cope…I love fighting but when I’m pissed, not my best fights…but we all need our vices,” you threw out, sounding much less cold and edgy.

Tony scratched his head again, “Look…I’m sorry for what I did, I freaked out, both times. I’m a fucked up person, I wish I wasn’t, but I am, that’s probably not going to change. But I’m really sorry I hurt you and wrongly accused you. I’m just, sorry.” Tony finally let out.

You looked at him and felt the heart-ache renew itself, why did he have to come and be a good guy again, it’s so much easier to be angry than sad. You sighed…you understood, you could sympathize, of course you could, your typical reaction to anything that pissed you off or freaked you out was to bash something, or someone, had you been in Tony’s shoes, you’d probably have bashed his head into the wall too…what had really hurt was that he didn’t trust you, not that he tried to kill you.

“Everyone needs to cope, somehow,” you reasserted.

Tony remained silent, not knowing what to say.

“You’re not that fucked up, god knows how many agents and punching-bags I went through in the past 48 hours,” you chuckled bitterly to yourself, “Actually, scratch that, we are both fucked up, but that’s okay that’s what makes us who we are,” You said.

  Tony stiffened at your words…so does that mean you forgive him?

“It’s just…” You started again, this time looking at him with teary eyes, “You didn’t trust me.” You choked out.

  He didn’t trust you and that hurt you more than anything else.

“Oh baby…” Tony breathed out and he quickly closed the distance between the two of you, pressing his forehead against yours, he stared resolutely into your eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I promise, I will never doubt you again. I’m so sorry for hurting you,” he repeated again as he traced his fingers gingerly along your bruised neck.

  You felt your heart stop at the intimacy that the two of you now shared, all your anger and frustration melted away at those words…a small echo of uncertainty still lingered in the back of your head, but at the moment they were being drowned out by the intensity of Tony’s stare.

“Mmm,” you acquiesced and Tony shot you one of his tiny smiles.

  You couldn’t help it, you chuckled. Tony’s smiled widened, finally hearing you laugh. As your laughter died down, your closeness finally hit you and as if a trance had been woven over the two of you, you both started to lean in…

“Tony, did you…oh…never mind…” Natasha walked in.

  You and Tony broke apart before your lips could even touch, you expertly suppressed your blush and Tony recovered with his typical dramatic flair.

“Yes my dear Natalie, what have you come for this time?”

Natasha looked apologetically between the two of you, “Pepper’s up, just though you might wanna know.”

  At her words, a heavy silence settled between you and Tony. Tony looked at you apologetically and you understood.

“Go,” you breathed out. It had hurt to utter that single word, but you knew he needed to see her more than he needed to see you right now.

  Tony bobbed his head in thanks and ran out after promising to talk to you later. You shook your head slowly at his retreating form and sighed.

“You should probably get that looked at,” Natasha motioned at your wrist which was now swelling, you grimaced as you tried to form a fist.

“Yea I probably should…”

“Come on I’ll walk you,” the female assassin said as she escorted you out the room.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Tony hasn’t seen Pepper look so pale since the Mandarin incident.

“Hey Pep,” Tony greeted with false cheer, which she returned.

“Hey yourself…”

“So…how do you feel?” Tony asked, this time with genuine concern.

“Honestly? Like a truck ran me over…” She groaned.

  Every single muscle in her body were writhing in pain, she doubt she’s ever been so sore in her life.

“You’ll better soon,” Tony reassured her.

“Yea, that’s what the doctor said,” Pepper smiled to herself.

Another bout of silence settled between them.

“Tony, I’m so sorry for everything,” Pepper finally spoke up.

“What?” was Tony’s surprised answer.

Pepper bit her lip, trying to figure out where to start.

“Happy and I, we divorced last month…” She began.

Tony nodded, “So you mentioned at the party...”

“We didn’t, work out, I thought he was what I wanted but he wasn’t…” Tony held his breath, if Pepper said what he thinks she was going to say, things are going to get a whole lot messier.

“But, you know Tony, the truth is, neither are you.”

“Look Pep, I’m sorry, I can’t- wait what?”

 Finally having processed her words, Tony looked at her, jaw hanging.

“I said, you’re not what I want either Tony Stark,” Pepper repeated herself with a sigh.

Tony dutifully closed his jaw and looked at his long-time assistant for clarification.

“I thought about this a lot, and I know this totally contradicts with my actions earlier, and by the way, all that…stuff, that wasn’t me, and I’m really sorry I came onto you like that. If I led you on, I’m sorry, but I just don’t love you that way…I know you still love me, but I’m sorry, as painful as it is for you, we aren’t meant to be Tony.”

Hearing her words, Tony slumped down on the bed, next to Pepper. Did she just…basically said everything he wanted to say? Yea, she did. Well…that was unexpected.

“You’re right,” Tony sated plainly, staring blankly at the wall ahead.

This time, it’s Pepper’s turn to be stunned.

“I know Tony, I’m sorry…wait what?”

“I said you’re right Pep, we’re not mean to be. I mean, we make a kick-ass team, and you’re great in bed but man we make a terrible couple,” Tony elaborated, probably more than necessary.

  Despite her protesting muscles, Pepper smacked the billionaire.

“I love you too, Pep…like family. You’ll always be family,” Tony said sincerely as he rubbed the spot that he had just hit.

The woman simply sighed and grinned wryly, “And you’ll always be family too Tony.”

 The two sat in companionable silence, but Tony’s had enough of silences for one day.

“So, that position in Stark Corp is still open…” Tony started suggestively.

  Pepper gave him ‘the look’ and Tony smiled innocently in return; she narrowed her eyes, “Oh no Tony, you’re so not talking me back into that hell of a position, I don’t care how good the pay is, it’s far too much work and stress.”

  Tony pouted and the two broke out in laughter.

“My offer still stands,” Tony said as he enveloped Pepper in a friendly hug which she returned.

Of course, as fate would have it, for the second time that day, you had chosen that exact moment to walk in on them.

“Mr. Stark, Director Fury is-…I’ll come back later,” this time you didn’t even bother finishing you sentence once you saw the hugging couple.

  Really, what were you expecting? Part of you was unexpectedly calm, the other part was just resigned, yes Tony apologized, yes perhaps you almost kissed, but this is the truth. ‘Life isn’t fair, accept it,’ you scolded yourself as you made your way back to your room. You’d go find Steve and his punching bags, but you were on strict orders to lay off your wrist and you’ve had enough violence for one day.

  ‘They really need to install a bar here,’ you thought to yourself. That’d be a much more productive coping mechanism than beating stuff up. In the end, you went back to your guest bed-room, when all else fails, there’s always sleep. Based on experience, you knew that you can’t sleep off a heart-ache, but you can damn well try.

Unbeknown to you, Tony had immediately broken away from the hug, bid Pepper a speedy recovery and ran after you. Pepper looked at the frantic form of Tony and a knowing smile slowly spread across her face.

  “Good luck Tony, she’s a tough one,” she said to no one in particular.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moments after you entered your room, Tony burst in, panting.

“Mr. Stark?” You queried.

“Tony,” he said in between breaths.

“What?”

“Call me Tony, I thought we’ve been through that already.”

  You swear, you’ll never understand this man’s logic.

“Sorry, Tony, do you need something?”

 Having caught his breath, Tony stood up to full height and grabbed your shoulders.

“(f/n),” he said seriously. You blinked twice at the sudden change in demeanor.

“What you walked in on, twice today, you’re completely mistaken.”

“Sorry?” It’s official, you were confused.

“Just now, I was just giving Pepper a friendly hug,” he explained, and you raised an eyebrow at him,

“And this concerns me because?”

“This concerns you because, because I…” Tony trailed off again and you looked at him.

Half of you was hopeful, the other half was skeptical.

“I, Io—no, I li- no, I, I have strong-“

“Stirrings?” You finished the sentence for him, and Tony gave you the evil eye for the lame movie reference.

“I was going for feelings, I have strong feelings for you (f/n).”

  You felt you heart swell at the confession.

“Look, I’ll admit I’m confused right now, hell this is has been the most confusing 48 hours of my life,” you mentally agreed with him, “but all I know right now is that I have sincerely, genuine feelings for you, but I don’t want to start anything with you until I’m ready to love again, because you’re too important for me to fuck this up.”

  This confession both upset you and made you happy, how is it that Tony Stark is capable of making you feel contrasting emotions at the same time, all the time.

“So, let me get this straight,” you clarified, Tony motioned for you to continue, “You don’t love me.”

“Not yet,” he amended.

“You don’t love me, yet. But you have strong feelings for me.”

He nodded.

“So you don’t want to start anything now until you’re ready to be in a relationship again,” you finished off.

  He nodded yet again. You hmm-ed in contemplation. You were happy, of course you were happy, but dammit if you didn’t want revenge for the emotional roller-coaster he’s put you through so far.

“How do you know that I return these…feelings, of yours?” You asked pointedly, at which Tony just stared at you blankly, one eyebrow raised.

  The two of you stayed that way for a while before you chuckled.

“Okay okay, yes I lo-..I have strong feelings for you too,” you caught yourself half-way.

  You didn’t want to scare him off with the intensity of your feelings. At your confession, Tony’s eyes turned tender and he stared into your eyes longingly. Deep down, you wondered, is he finally going to kiss you now? You felt your heart-rate speed up and you closed your eyes involuntarily. You could feel the body-heat that was Tony getting closer and closer to your face…until something soft touched your forehead.

Tony’s lips moved away as fast as they had kissed you and you opened your eyes to look at him, disappointment evident. A cheeky grin made its way onto Tony’s face as he rested his forehead against yours.

“Disappointed?” He breathed out teasingly.

“No…” You retorted with a pout, and he chuckled.

“Wait for me?” He asked sincerely.

   Staring into his eyes, you wanted to tell him that you’ll wait for him, even if it means waiting forever, but that would ruin the moment out of sheer cheesiness. Catching yourself, you whispered back at him teasingly, “It’s not like I’m going anywhere…Mr Stark.”

Tony gave you one of those smiles of his that you loved so much and pulled you into a tight embrace.

And so, the silent pact has been formed, let the courting begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! 
> 
> I hope it wasn't an overly confusing chapter, but hey, no more OOC Pepper right? 
> 
> Yes, there's finally a semblance of plot beyond romance! Isn't this exciting!!! 
> 
> If you've never read Air Gear manga and only watched the Anime, yes that parasite thing really does exist in Air Gear universe. If anyone has any questions about the Air Gear in relation to the story, please comment and I will reply! 
> 
> Anyways, the next two chapters will be fluff! YAY!! 
> 
> As usual, muchas gracias for kudos and comments. I'M FEELING THE LOVE! 
> 
> Much love and hugs and kisses to you guys too! <3


	12. My first kiss went a little like this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regular updates! OH MY GOD! WHAT SORCERY IS THIS!?
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel and YGO characters. I sorta own you, sorta. 
> 
> This chapter is the fluffiest thing I've ever written in my entire life. Like EVER.
> 
> I'm actually very very bad with romantic stuff. 
> 
> My friend has a video of me blushing and cringing and banging my head against the table as I wrote this. 
> 
> IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!!
> 
> No seriously. 
> 
> Hope you guys are happy with this. 
> 
> Anyways, the resort and vine yard mentioned in this chapter are all real places. I did my research k! No I have not been to those places and likely never will (it look awesome though).   
> You can check out the resort here: https://www.jumeirah.com/en/hotels-resorts/mallorca/jumeirah-port-soller-hotel-and-spa/rooms-and-suites/lighthouse-suite/
> 
> That's all from me. ENJOY THE FLUFFINESS!

You were stressed, actually, you were beyond stressed. Now that it has been identified that SHIELD, or rather, your mom, was the target for the attacks, Tony happily waved Fury goodbye (or in his own words, left them to die) and returned to planning his crazy international Stark Expo.

Despite the fact that the threat has been nullified, both Kaiba and Tony have gotten into the swing of things and were vicariously planning out one of the most insane technology expo the world has ever seen…which for you meant mountains and mountains of paperwork.

“JARVIS, create a sub-folder for the import regulations for rare materials,” you said as you highlighted the necessary documents to migrate to the new folder. As the files transferred you leaned back into the chair, rubbing the bridge of your nose tiredly. New inventions are great and all, the only problem is that policies are not being made fast enough to catch up to them, case in point the importing of copernicium, the new element Tony created that is central to the running of arc-reactors.

“Morning sunshine!” Tony waltzed in holding a blueberry muffin and a mug of coffee.

You cracked one eye open and eyed the billionaire warily. Tony frowned at the prominent eye bags on your face.

“Something wrong babe?”

You glanced at the holograms on the table and sighed, “Nope, just you know, red tape.”

  Tony took another bite out of his muffin as he skimmed through the contents of the projection, he hummed thoughtfully as he chewed. You looked at him in anticipation, hoping that his genius mind would come up with a solution for this administrative hell. Nodding to himself, Tony set down his coffee and muffin and walked behind you.

  You turned your head to follow him until your neck could not turn anymore, and you stared at him from the corner of your eye.

“Tony?” You asked.

Instead of answering you, he let his fingers work out the knots on your shoulder and you bit back a groan.

  “You know what I think?” He asked as he worked on a particularly stubborn knot, causing you to wince as you shook your head. “I think,” he paused as he waved away all the hologram on the table, “You need a holiday.”

  “Tony, we’ve been through that already,” you turned the chair to face him, a small part of you mourning the loss of his skilful fingers. “I need to sort this all out or we can’t have the expo,” you explained for the umpteenth time.

That and if you didn’t get all of the bureaucracy sorted, Kaiba will probably kill you. You liked living thank you very much.

  Tony shot you a look, the same look you usually gave him when he’s being petulant, “I don’t pay all those idiots in the office good money to make you sit here and do their work. To quote what you said to Kaiba before we left, ‘There are hundreds of employees sitting in that building making sure nothing goes wrong with the company, it won’t kill you to take a break for a few weeks.’ “

  Reflexively you opened your mouth to retort but Tony was right, you just hated that he used your own words against you. Heaving a sigh, you stood up and stretched, “You’re right, someone else can lose sleep over all this crap.”

  You immediately regretted your words after you said them as you saw Tony’s eyes light up mischievously, “Great! Because we leave now,” he announced and then proceeded to drag you out of the workshop.

  “But I haven’t even packed!” You protested.

  “JARVIS?” He asked.

  “Ms (l/n)’s luggage has already been packed and loaded onto the plane,” the AI replied dutifully.

  You groaned as you let Tony drag you out the tower in nothing but your home clothes. If only he got actual work done with the same level of efficiency he does with his impulses…

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  You snuggled yourself into the seat of the plane that is currently headed to Port Soller in Mallorca. You were pleasantly surprised that Tony chose the seaside resort over his usual flashy Vegas retreat, but you weren’t about to complain. Peace is definitely a welcomed change.

  You stared at Tony, who was pouring over some blueprints Kaiba had sent over for the integration of the Arc Reactor into Kaiba Land and thought back to how things have changed after his ‘little’ confession.

In all honesty, after the confession, things between you and Tony surprisingly remained largely the same. The biggest difference is probably that you no-longer have to second-guess his affectionate gestures and can enjoy them fully. That and the one-night stands have stopped. He still flirted with other women, but that was mostly to get you jealous (and though you would not admit it, most of the time, it worked.) You were almost a little disappointed at the lack of progress in your relationship, but now that you were on this trip…your thoughts trailed off as you smiled to yourself.

Unknown to you, Tony’s eyes kept flickering to you as he looked through the blueprints. Tony had always been making moves on you, courting you should come to him like second nature, except it wasn’t. He wants to do right by you and take you out on dates, but he doesn’t know how. Looking back at his life, Tony realized that he has never had to romance any women. It has always been one night stands or crazy parties. The first woman he ever ‘romanced’ was Pepper, and we all know how that went.

Who would have guessed, Tony Stark, billionaire playboy philanthropist, stumped by courtship.

Not that he didn’t try of course, so he didn’t take you out on expensive dinner dates, or buy you a giant bunny, but it’s the little things that count. After returning to Stark Tower, Tony promptly ordered JARVIS to replace all the equipment at the bar with best bartending equipment money could buy. The first cocktail night you guys had upon returning from the birthday party from hell had you doing a double-take at the excessiveness that was the bar. So yes, it was a sweet gesture, but even Tony knew that he needed to break stalemate in this courtship before something blew up in his face (and with Tony’s luck, something probably would.)

It took him a while, but after watching you pull late nights and chew out the asses of the rest of the staff working in Stark Tower, Tony finally stumbled upon a solution. A vacation. Back when Pepper had your job, she had never stopped lamenting about going on a vacation. It seemed like a fool-proof idea. That in mind, Tony had impulsively went ahead and booked the most expensive suite he could find in Vegas…thankfully he had the foresight (for once) to ask for advice.

Mokuba (because somehow the perceptive young boy made it completely acceptable to ask him for advice related to you) had promptly shut the idea down. Tony made a huge fuss about it, after all, this was Tony’s dream vacation, but after watching your face relax into a contented smile when he revealed the location, Tony was glad that he gave into Mokuba’s suggestion in the end.

Tony eyed your sleeping form one last time and patted his pant pocket nervously, he had the whole trip planned out, he could do this…

If only Rhodey knew about how nervous Tony was about a silly vacation…he would never let the billionaire live it down.

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Tony grinned, feeling very pleased with himself as you openly gawked at the scenery outside the limo window. You were far too absorbed in the deep blue hues of the sea to notice his smugness, but the ocean did not keep you attention for long as the limo journeyed up the steep hills of the cliff that the hotel is perched on. Your eyes widened you guys sped past the signboard of the hotel.

You snapped your head around to face Tony, “Is this..?”

 “Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel and Spa, wasn’t easy getting the lighthouse suite on such short notice, I must say,” Tony said smugly.

If your head wasn’t so busy exploding at the words ‘Jumeirah’ and ‘lighthouse’, you would have noticed that the limo had stopped at the hotel lobby. “If you’re not going to use that pretty mouth of yours, you might wanna close it,” Tony teased as he slid out of the door that was being held open for him.

Mechanically, you shut your mouth and followed your boss out of the car, nodding absentmindedly at the bell-boy who was holding the car door open. As Mokuba’s body guard, you have gone on your fair share of expensive vacations, however Kaiba was a practical man and Mokuba wasn’t big on spas and resorts in the first place. So while private jets (blue eye white dragon jets), yachts and skydiving were the norm for you…luxurious spa resorts were not.

“Mr. Stark, I really appreciate all of…this, but it must have cost a fortune, I couldn’t possibly…” You were cut short by Tony placing a finger on your lips.

“What did we say about the Mr Stark thing? We’re on holiday, YOU are on holiday. So it’s just Tony, and you don’t have to feel bad. I’m not spending all this money on a paid vacation for my PA,” He said with his signature grin. And as if the intimacy wasn’t enough, he leaned in to whisper in your ear, “I’m spending it on the girl I want to impress.”

  Before you could react (or rather, pass out from blushing too hard), Tony moved away like nothing happened and strutted into the lobby of the hotel. Running through your breathing exercises, you followed suit.

You were not surprised to have the hotel’s manager greet the two of you with a score of staff behind him. With a high profile customer like Tony Stark, such special service was only natural. Yet as a service staff offered you a glass of orange juice which you took at Tony’s prompting, you could not help but shuffle your feet uncomfortably. You were not used to having that much attention and service thrown your way.

No sooner did the bell boys make off with your bags and jackets did the manager begin the tour of the resort. You listened to the middle-aged man rattle on about the facilities half-heartedly, too busy feeling out of place. Sensing your discomfort, Tony offered you his arm with a cheeky grin. You took a moment to loop your arm around his, uncertain about the sudden ‘public’ display of affection. Somehow, it felt inappropriate, you were his personal assistant after all, although the long throes of other girls who had hung on his arm would beg to differ.

“Chin up,” Tony chastised gently, pulling you closer to him. You looked away involuntarily at the sudden intimacy, earning a chuckle from the millionaire beside you. “Am I that unpleasant to be around?” He asked, voice full of mock hurt.

Scandalized, you whirled around to retort. “Of course not! I’m glad to be here with you-“ You stopped short immediately, realizing the embarrassing confession you had just inadvertently made. If possible, Tony’s self-satisfied grin widened even further, causing you to blush harder. Inwardly you groaned, what was it with this man and his damned ability to make you blush like a high school girl with a crush. You were a bodyguard, an assassin!

“You’re too cute, you know that?” Tony said with genuine affection in his voice as he ruffled your hair with his free hand. “I’m not ashamed of you, of this,” He whispered at a softer volume, tone a tad more sincere. “Quite the opposite actually,” he continued with a small heartfelt smile.

You looked away, keeping your mouth stubbornly shut in case it decided to embarrass you further. Secretly though, his words managed to calm you and send your heart racing at the same time. Subconsciously, you pulled yourself closer to Tony, pressing your body against his arm. Evidently the closeness was something Tony was not expecting, and if you had turned back to look at him, you would have realized that Tony’s sudden silence wasn’t because he was inwardly laughing at your expense, but because he was too busy suppressing a blush of his own.

If the manager noticed the intimate exchange behind him, he wisely kept it to himself, although if anyone squinted hard enough, they would have spotted the amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The rest of the tour flew by and before long, the two of you arrived at the lighthouse suite.  The manager rattled off another string of pleasantries that was lost to you. Tony waved the manager off as he stared at your gobsmacked face. He keeps forgetting that you never stayed at his Malibu mansion and seaside views were probably not something you were treated to on a daily basis. Then again, the view from the lighthouse suite was particularly spectacular.

“The view’s not going to go anywhere,” Tony said as he leaned against the doorway. In a fit of childishness, you turned around to stick out your tongue at him. Tony just shook his head slowly at your reaction and moved to hug you from behind. “So shall we go pick out your room?”

Away from prying eyes, you relaxed into his embrace but then tensed up again, “Pick out my room?” You questioned, turning to face the billionaire.

Tony looked at you with a single raised brow, the amused expression quickly morphed into a devious one. Alarm bells began to ring in your head. “Why, did you think we were going to sleep in the same bed?” Tony looked at you suggestively.

Your stammered a retort, but your nervousness betrayed your thoughts. Specifically, you hadn’t thought quite as far as sleeping arrangements, but a small part of you had assumed that Tony would want to share a bed with you…

“I’m joking,” a laugh rumbled through his chest. Partially annoyed and partially embarrassed (that seemed to be the most common feeling when dealing with Tony these days), you settled for a glare. “There’s only one bed in this suite,” he whispered into your ear, voice low, sending shivers down your spine. Instinctively, you tore yourself out of his arms and ran upstairs to the bedroom, face red, heart racing. He really needs to stop doing that to you.

By the time Tony made it upstairs, you were already flopped on the bed, staring at the lighthouse across the bay. So that’s why they called this the lighthouse suite. You felt the mattress sink deeper and deduced that Tony had joined you on the bed. Before you could crane your head to get a better view you felt sturdy fingers run through your hair. A sense of serenity washed over you, and for a while, Tony and you stayed in that position, with his fingers casually combing through your hair as you basked in the comfortable silence. Eventually however, your PA side kicked in and you realized that you probably needed to come up with some sort of plan for the holiday seeing as Tony wouldn’t.

“Mr-Sorry, Tony, could you pass me the resort’s brochure,” you sat up.

 Tony moved to do as you asked but stopped short, “Why?” Tony asked, face puzzled.

  “I wasn’t really paying attention to the manager’s tour, and I need to work out a rough itinerary for the trip,” you said as you crawled across the bed to retrieve the black file yourself. Tony’s hand shot out to stop yours.

“You’re on vacation,” Tony deadpanned. You were about to retort but he silenced you with a look. “Besides, I’ve got it all sorted,” Tony patted himself on the chest smugly. For the umpteenth time that day, you were stunned into silence.

“I told you, there’s a girl I’m trying to impress,” his eyes twinkled.

Not really knowing how to react, you huffed with a grin and smacked him playfully in the shoulder. “Alright then Romeo, what’s the plan for today then?”

“Well,” he paused for dramatic effect. “I heard that the massages here are to die for. Hope you like orange essence oils, they’re famous for that here.” As if to emphasize his point, he tossed you one of the oranges sitting on the bedside table.

You caught it with one hand and brought it up to your nose, breathing in the refreshing scent. A massage sounded heavenly right now. Your knotted shoulders sang in agreement.

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  You woke up feeling more refreshed than you ever, it was nice to be able to sleep to your hearts’ content without the alarm. Two straight days of spa have done your body wonders. If you were honest with yourself, you were feeling very spoiled. The morning air was cool in comparison to the warm blankets you were cocooned under. You could vaguely feel another heat source named Tony behind you. You smiled wistfully at that. Although you and Tony were now sharing a bed, he was still cautious of boundaries, boundaries that he set for himself. And instead of cuddling up to you like you had expected, he had, respectfully, slept with his back facing you, keeping to what he called ‘his side of the bed’. The logical part of your mind chalked it up to him wanting to take things slow, the emotional part of you however was feeling very disappointed.

  A jostle in the sheets broke your train of thought and you quickly deduced that the genius billionaire had finally decided to join in the land of the waking. “Morning Tony,” you turned, careful not to let the cold air into your warm cocoon of blankets.

 “A man can get used to this,” he said with his signature smirk, sleep not quite completely out of his eyes yet. You not so subtly kicked him and inwardly mused at how warm he was.

  “So, what’s the plan for today Mr tour guide!” You asked excitedly. You heard Tony mutter something that sounded like ‘morning person’ under his breath and bit back a chuckle. Irritated Tony was adorable.

  He shuffled closer to you, also careful to not move the blankets too much (inwardly, you smiled at how he was wary of cold morning air just like you).

“Well,” he began, eyes drifting to a corner of the room as he tried to mentally recall the schedule, “We’ve pretty much done everything the resort has to offer. You up for some exploration?”

  Your eyes obviously betrayed your excitement as Tony cut you off before you could reply.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Did I mention you’re too cute for your own good?” He added, leaning in to press a kiss on your forehead.

  You rolled your eyes at his comment, how could you forget, he only reminded you every other 5 minutes.

“We should probably get up then,” you said unmoving.

“Yea,” Tony agreed, equally unmoving.

  And so, there you both laid, revelling in the warmth of the blanket in mutual silence. Seconds passed and both of you burst out in laughter.

  “Okay we really need to get up,” Tony said.

  You nodded in agreement. “You first.”

  He turned to look at you, alarmed. “Oh no no, I couldn’t possibly, ladies first.”

  You raised an eyebrow at him and for a moment considered continuing the banter. But then a brilliant crept up on you, and instead you hummed in agreement. Just as Tony shot you a surprised look at your agreement, you threw the blanket off both of you, exposing Tony to the cold air. And with trained athleticism, you leapt off the bed and dashed to the bathroom.

  Unprepared for the assault of cold air, Tony roared, “(F/N)!!!!!!” Sadly for him, your ringing laughter was his only reply.

  Resigning himself to his fate, Tony got about getting ready for the morning, a small smile on his lips despite your prank. Listening to you sing as you showered, Tony decided he could get use to this.

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  You watched the view of Serra De Traumuntana whizz by below you with wide eyes. The view was simply breath taking. As enjoyable as the flight was however, it had to come to an end. Changing course, Tony eventually set you down at entrance of the orange grove, Ecovinyassa. While Tony stepped out of his suit and sent JARVIS to fly the Iron Man suit back to the hotel room, you pulled off the bodysuit and goggles Tony passed you for the flight.

  “You know, when you said hiking, that wasn’t exactly what I pictured,” You commented. You were circling hiking trails on the map provided by the front desk when Tony threw you the suit and goggles, asking you to suit up before jetting the both of you off. You shouldn’t have expected any less. Trekking on foot? Tony? You shook your head slowly at your own naivety.

  “But it works no? Now we know which places we want to check out for the next few days.” Tony replied with his typical smugness.

  “Yes, yes,” you relented. Mallorca wasn’t exactly a tiny island, it wouldn’t be possible to cover half the attractions without Tony’s suit. Besides you liked flying, so you weren’t really about to complain.

  The owners of the orange grove were obviously informed of your arrival as aside for the typical wide-eyed stare that everyone wears when they see Iron Man, there weren’t any additional commotions. Once you and Tony were both presentable, Tony led you by the arm into the orchard for the self-guided tour.

  Ecovinyassa was an orange grove that was surrounded by the mountains, growing up in Tokyo, living in Domino and now in New York, to be around this much nature was a breath of fresh air for you. Perhaps it was because you were on vacation, or perhaps it was the change in scenery, for once you were genuinely relaxed and acting your age.

  “Oh my god Tony, look, the chicken! It’s pecking at the seeds!” You pointed out a tad too excitedly. Okay so maybe for once you were acting younger than your actual age.

  Tony simply looked on with an affectionate smile. A myriad of thoughts passing through his brain as he watched you run around the orchard, marvelling at the animals, fruits and trees with childlike wonder. You were the second woman he ever fell in love with and this was the first vacation he ever took with a girl he actually had feelings for. The very thought of it sent warm feelings throughout him. The way the sun bounced off your hair, the sound of your laugh, Tony swore to burn all these little details into his memory. Maybe sometimes, happiness is that simple.

  Calming down somewhat after getting strange looks from a family of tourists, you once again took your place by Tony’s side as the owner brought out the snacks. Thirsty from all your activity, you dove for the orange juice. You were expecting it to be delicious, the orange juice at the resort had already blown your mind, but this orange juice took that to a whole new level. The tangy, sweet flavour permeated not only your tongue but your sense of smell, but not overwhelmingly so. There was a mellowness and effervescent that took the edge off the natural sourness of the oranges. It was hands down the best orange juice you have ever tasted. Instinctively, your mind flew to the encyclopaedia of cocktail recipes in your head. All the delicious cocktails you could make with this orange juice…

  ‘Malibu sunrise’, your mind finally supplied. To commemorate the soon-to-be finished seaside mansion. You nodded approvingly at yourself. Before you could reign yourself in, questions about the orange juice and other citrus fruit on the farm flew out your mouth. 

  Your enthusiasm was infectious and the owner offered to take you and Tony back into the orchard to taste the citruses available so you could pick out the fruits and juices you wanted. Tony’s brain switched off as you and the owner’s wife ascended into a conversation about acidity levels. As far as he was concerned, these were just fresh, delicious oranges. But watching you taste the various fruits with a look of undivided focus, he slowly began to understand why you enjoyed watching him work back in the virtual world.

  It was nice, watching someone be engaged in something they were passionate about. Although you did not say it out loud, the look you wore when you gulped down that glass of orange juice was the exact same one you had when you were bartending. It didn’t take Tony’s genius level intellect to figure out what you were passionately tasting the fruits for. A small part of his mind cheered at the prospect of more delicious cocktails that he would be privy to.

  Eventually you settled on the fruits you liked. You looked on sheepishly as Tony signed for the cartons of juices and crate of fruits to be delivered to the hotel room. You had offered to pay for it, but Tony insisted that he was the one who would be drinking the cocktails (how he figured that out was beyond you), and that this was no different from stocking up the bar, therefore he would be paying for it.

  “Thanks Tony,” you said apologetically as the two of you strolled down the hill, away from the orange grove and into Port Soller.

  “Don’t worry about it, I like spoiling you,” Tony replied, ruffling your head. You gripped his hand tighter, and continued to walking in silence. A loud rumble from Tony’s stomach broke the peace.

  “Okay so maybe I could have used the snacks,” Tony said offhandedly, causing you to blush in embarrassment. Tony had barely had a baguette before you dragged him back into the orchard to look at the fruits.

  “Um…so…early dinner?” You suggested.

  “That, my lady, is a very agreeable idea,” Tony agreed with a mock British accent. Your own stomach growling in agreement, the two of you jogged towards the city in the distance, hell bent on feeding your hungry stomachs.

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  In true Tony style, the two of you hopped off the tram at the first open restaurant to satisfy your hungry stomachs. It was one of the things you really loved about Tony, although most people found him fussy, for a billionaire, he really wasn’t. Once you got past his eccentricities, he’s actually a really easy-going and adventurous guy. True to his nature, once you guys wrapped up dinner (some Mediterranean fare that you couldn’t pronounce) Tony’s decision wasn’t to go back to the hotel.

  “So, the night’s still young, you up for some getting lost?” He held out his arm to you, something he’s been doing a lot lately.

  “Oh I don’t know, that sounds awfully dangerous,” you said with mock worry, but took his arm anyways.

  Pulling you closer, Tony shot you his signature smirk, “Don’t worry my lady, I’ll be sure to protect your honor.”

  Your shoulders shook as you tried to contain your laughter. Not that you doubted Iron Man’s ability to keep you safe, but the idea of you being some damsel in distress seemed so ludicrous that you couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image. Your laughter proved infectious Tony soon joined in with his own chuckling.

  For a while, you and Tony settled for strolling down the dimly lit pavements of Port Soller, pointing out shops and buildings of interest. Well, it was mostly you pointing out things of interest and Tony reciting related facts (courtesy of JARVIS) to you. But it was night time, and even in the tourist town of Port Soller, majority of the shops were closed. What remained open were neon-lit bars and clubs, which neither of you felt like entering.

  As it got later into the night, the streets began to liven up again, mostly with club goers. Of course, as majority of the nightclubs were concentrated in the main towns of Majorca, it wasn’t anywhere near crowded. But it was noisy enough to ruin the romantic atmosphere. And so, Tony and you eventually ducked into the back alleys of Port Soller.

  “Maybe we should head back to the hotel?” You suggested as both of you wondered aimlessly in the narrow alleyway, with only the moonlight and filtered light from the main streets lighting your way.

  Tony nodded in agreement but then something caught his attention. Pulling you along with a sense of urgency now, he stopped outside a door at an intersection of the alleys. Light peeked out from below the dark wooden door, you could both hear muffled music and chattering from behind the door.

  “You wanna check it out?” Tony asked, but you knew it was mostly out of courtesy. The curiosity in his eyes were burning, it wasn’t as if he was going to take no for an answer. Instead of replying, you pushed the door open and a gush of warm air greeted both of you.

  The scene before the two of you was pretty much what you had expected. It was a small bar, judging from the more tamed and matured cliental as well as the completely Spanish menu, you figured that this was a local hang out. What did catch you by surprise however, was the live band and salsa dancers on the dance floor.

  While you stared at the twirling figures, Tony had gotten you both a table near the dance floor and two pints of beer. The PA part of you knew that you should be the one handling these things, but not only were you on holiday, you also didn’t speak Spanish, which the great Tony Stark does (a fact that never ceased to blow your mind).

  For a while, both of you were content to sip your drinks and enjoy the atmosphere of the place. But then Tony caught you tapping your fingers to the music and came up with the most devious of ideas.

  “Care for a dance?” He leaned in to whisper in your ear, his voice temporarily drowning out the music and laughter in the room. You shot him an undecided look in response.

  The music was getting to you, and the dance floor looked so inviting. There was only one tiny problem… “I don’t know how to dance.” More accurately, you didn’t know how to Salsa.

  The grin that spread itself across Tony’s face made you regret your confession almost immediately. “I’ll teach you, come on.”

  Without waiting for your response, Tony dragged you over to the edge of the dance floor.

  “So you put your arms here like this, good…okay now the basic steps are simple, it’s just…” Tony rattled on, positioning your arms and demonstrating the steps. As he had expected, within two songs, you were spinning and dancing with the rest of them. Not that the small bar was full of professional dancers anyways. Years of ballroom dance classes told Tony that much.

  Another song passed, and soon two songs turned into five. Adrenaline pumped through your veins as you were spun out and then pulled back in again. You hadn’t felt this alive since cage fighting, and judging by the beaming smile on Tony’s face that mirrored your own, you had a feeling that Tony felt the same.

  With each passing dance, Tony pulled you closer and closer. You knew your forms were probably breaking but you weren’t about to complain. Prolonged physical contact with Tony was always welcomed.

  As if sensing the crowd’s fatigue, the band slowed the music down to a jazzy, bossa nova beat. Uncertain about the change in dance, you shuffled uncertainly and dropped your arms. Sensing your sudden uneasiness, Tony wrapped both arms around your waist and pulled you against him. Shyly, you placed your hands against his chest.

  It was the first time you realized your difference in height, your head came right up to Tony’s chin. Suddenly, you remembered something one of your high school classmates said. ‘It’s the perfect height for couples.’ Somehow the notion that you and Tony shared the perfect height difference for couples sent you blushing a hundred different shades of red.

  You apparently also stiffened because Tony tightened his hold on you and leaned down to whisper in your ear. “You alright babe?”

  Tony’s voice shook you out of your reverie, but the newfound intimacy, as comforting as it was, did nothing for your heart rate. Not hearing a reply from you, Tony moved a hand to tilt your chin up to face him.

  You locked gazes with Tony, his hazel eyes bored into yours with worry, underlined by an emotion that took you a while to place. Love. Tony obviously saw past the red flush and realized that you were blushing because the worry melted away into amusement and affection.

  You bit your lip nervously when you realized Tony had seen through your embarrassment. You were willing to bet that he could also feel your racing heartbeat. How he managed to reduce you into a blushing school girl every single time, you will never know.

  Amidst your thought process, you missed Tony’s eyes flickering from your eyes to your lips. You only refocused your attention onto the man when you realized he was leaning in. Part of you could sense that the atmosphere was different from the usual times Tony felt like displaying his affections. But you had set yourself up for a kiss once before, only to be disappointed with a peck of the forehead and you weren’t about to repeat your mistake again.

  You closed your eyes in anticipation for the feeling of warm lips against your forehead, but Tony continued leaning in, lower than before. This caused you to snap your eyes open in alarm…Just in time for Tony to capture your lips in a kiss.

  You’ve read in novels, where the heroine described how it felt as if time had stopped when she her love interest finally kissed. You scoffed, because why would the simple sensation of lips against lips feel like time has stopped.

  But now you knew it wasn’t a dramatic exaggeration.

  The feeling of Tony’s lips against your own drowned out all the sound in the room. It was as if your entire body was hyper aware of this sole sensation. You closed your eyes, allowing yourself to drown in the moment. Instinctively, you moved to wrap your arms against his neck, inadvertently pulling him down towards you.

  Taking that as a sign of permission, Tony pushed his frame against yours, tongue darting out to trace against your lips. The intimacy was exhilarating, and you knew it was the same for Tony because when you parted your lips to grant him access, you could tell that he was straining to reign himself in and not plunder your mouth mercilessly. As far as kisses go, it was a soft and gentle one, but that was quickly changing as you tangled your tongue with his and sucked softly on his lower lip. Both of you knew the kiss was about to take a more heated turn and almost suddenly Tony pulled back, resting his forehead against yours, eyes still clouded,

  “Wow.” You both breathed at the same time. The unintended unison caused both of you to chuckle.

  Out of the corner of your eye, you knew some of the other patrons of the bar had noticed your very public display of affections and were shooting amused glances your way. However, you were more concerned about the blush Tony was sporting that complimented your own.

  “Shall we head back?” You whispered, still breathless. Tony nodded dumbly against you, and pulled away reluctantly.      

    As he pulled you out of the bar, Tony’s mind was racing. Him, the one and only Tony stark blushing because of a simple kiss? Sometimes, he wondered if you knew what you did to him.

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  The trip back to the hotel was silent, so was getting ready for bed. It wasn’t exactly an awkward silence, but both of you were too busy looking at each other shyly to actually say anything. Several times, both of you tried to speak up, but it always ended with a blush and stammer that you had both resigned to dealing with the newfound intimacy tomorrow.

  You crawled into bed, pulling the blanket over yourself and closed your eyes, ready to welcome sleep when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around you. You shifted, mussing up the crisp sheets, to look behind you.

  Before you could get a proper look at the man, he caught your lips in a chaste kiss. It was only when he moved away, did you see the shy but determined look in his eyes. Apparently, new boundaries had been set.

  “Good night babe,” he whispered, his breath tickling your face. You replied with a peck on his lips and a small smile. “Good night Tony.”

  You turned back, placing your arms around Tony’s and for the first time, fell asleep, in the arms of the one and only Tony Stark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was my first attempt at fluff?
> 
> YES, FINALLY, AFTER 12 FRIGGIN CHAPTERS, THERE IS A KISS. 
> 
> You must be wondering why this story is rated M at all. It's definitely not rated M because of swear words, I can tell you that much. *hint hint*
> 
> Anyways, many many thanks for all the support and kudos! 
> 
> Comments are a sure-fire way to make us authors update faster. Did you know if we fail to update quickly after receiving comments and kudos, we end up feeling very very very guilty? (I'm sure you do, most of you probably write as well). 
> 
> As some of you may know I post this story on Deviantart as well (un-checked and un-edited), the story here is one chapter away from catching up with the one posted of Deviantart...which means I need to get writing soon. The stress...
> 
> Good thing is I already have the ending figured out! 
> 
> Anyways, as always, all the love! <3


	13. Well that was awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except the story idea. 
> 
> Last off the fluff chapter before we go back to plot proper! 
> 
> Okay, I wouldn't exactly call this chapter fluff...*shifty eyes*
> 
> ...Enjoy?

  As always, you were the first to wake. The normally cold room was a lot warmer than usual, but you knew it wasn’t because of the warm rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains. The source of warmth behind you stirred and you allowed yourself a small smile.

“Tony?” You murmured. The soft breathing against the nape of your neck was your only reply.

  ‘I guess he isn’t awake yet,’ you thought to yourself and wriggled to make yourself more comfortable. You were in no rush to get out of bed anyways, cold air in your opinion, is pure evil. However, you suddenly stiffened when you realized something hard poking you from behind. Your first reaction was to groan inwardly in denial.

  ‘It can’t be, this is too cliché, shit like that only happens in the movies!’

  Tentatively, you shifted again, and the back of your thigh inevitably rubbed against the appendage in question. The reaction was instantaneous, the steady breaths on the back of your neck morphed into a breathy moan and Tony tightened his hold on you, pressing himself against your back.

  ‘Calm down,’ you told yourself, falling back to your breathing exercises (albeit for a completely different reason right now), ‘This is normal, this is a normal biological reaction.’ You convinced yourself futilely.

  For a while, you laid there tense and unmoving while Tony’s erection remained stubbornly pressed against your thigh. Your decision to remain still was based on two reasons, the first, you didn’t want to…’agitate’ Tony any more than you have, and the second, you didn’t want to risk waking Tony. Unlike Tony, you actually have shame, and although it is his erection poking at you, you were pretty sure that you’d be the one dying of embarrassment.

  Unfortunately for you, tenseness and hypersensitivity went hand in hand, and it wasn’t long before the warm breaths on the back of your neck began to tingle. Suddenly, you were hyper aware of every point of skin contact between you and Tony. Especially his lips that were mere millimetres from junction between your neck and shoulder. Then, Tony’s moved. Precisely speaking, Tony thrust his hips against yours, eliciting another groan. The action sent shivers down your spine and his hot breath against your neck toppled you into arousal. A few more thrusts later, Tony was effectively humping you and it was taking all of your self-control to not buck back against him. You wondered if Tony was actually awake and doing this on purpose. Then suddenly, just as you were fighting against your libido and thinking of how to get out of the situation, the source of heat behind you rolled away. Cold air immediately attacked your back, but instead of tensing up, you relaxed, relief running through your body even though it is still in overdrive.

  Several moments later Tony snapped his eyes open and greeted you sunnily.

  “Morning babe,” he said with a sleepy smile.

  Normally, you would have blushed, or cooed (mentally of course) at that smile, but this morning all it did was make you want to jump Tony right there and then.

  ‘One-sided sexual tension,’ your lamented inwardly. ‘Only you (f/n), only you,’ You sighed, sexual-frustration running all time high. Perhaps a 9 year dry spell hadn’t been such a great idea… Caught up in your own thoughts, you didn’t realize that your face had contorted into a frown. An action that sent alarm bells ringing in Tony’s head. Was something bothering you? Was spooning a bad idea? Was it the kissing? Did he overstep his boundaries?

  “(f/n)?” He asked tentatively, swapping out his usual pet name for you in favour of your real name.

  Tony’s concerned tone successful dragged you out of your thoughts. Doing a 180, you looked at him with an equally sunny smile.

 “Yes Tony?” Okay so maybe it was more like a 270 given how much you were overcompensating your smile to cover your frustration.

  “Is everything alright?” He asked, eyes serious.

  Catching the underlying worry in his eyes, you translated that as ‘are _we_ alright?’

  “Yea, just...had a bad dream,” you lied. A tiny voice in your head scoffed. Bad dream, right, Tony’s morning wood was just a bad dream.

  Thankfully for you, Tony seemed to buy your lie. “You poor thing,” he said, relief lacing his words as he wrapped his arms around you again and pulled you close to him.

  You couldn’t help it. In your defence, you’ve resisted this reaction for over half an hour this morning. The moment Tony pulled you close, and unknowingly pressed his still-hard erection against the curve of your ass, you jerked. The action forced and unbidden moan to escape from Tony and he broke away from you almost as fast as he pulled you in.

  To your surprise however, Tony wasn’t gloating nor joking about the situation. Instead, he was red, spluttering mess.

  “Oh fuck…jesus, I didn’t, I’m so-..gods I didn’t realize. I…I’m sorry!” He stammered.

  Perhaps it was the unexpectedness of his reaction, or perhaps the morning’s incident fried your brain. Either way, the irony of the situation sent you into an uncontrollable laughing fit.

  “Um..(f/n)?” Tony asked, his embarrassment giving way to bewilderment. He was not expecting that reaction from you.

  “Sorry, it’s just…” You toyed with the idea of telling him the truth behind your ‘bad dream’, but then decided against it. It would just make things more awkward. “I’ve never seen you so flustered,” you said between laughs. Then, when you finally calmed down enough to look at Tony properly, the stunned look on his face sent you into another giggling fit.

  Obviously, Tony’s ego finally kicked in because his face quickly morphed into that of displeasure. “I do not get flustered!” Tony stated indignantly.

  “Uh huh,” you snorted as you tried to get your giggling under control.

  Unfortunately, Tony wasn’t amused by all your laughing, and so he did the only thing his wounded pride could think of. He tickled you. Strong arms wrapped around your middle as his fingers ran wild along the side of your stomach. Caught off guard, laughter erupted from you as you struggled to supress the instinct to cause bodily harm to your tormentor. That didn’t mean you didn’t put up a fight however, you thrashed around wildly, not truly making an effort to escape as Tony continued his merciless tickling.

  Somewhere along the line, Tony ended up straddling you to limit your struggling. Between Tony’s half-hard erection and your thrashing however, sexual tension immediately returned ten-fold, and the innocent tickling soon took on an arousing edge. It was a complicated feeling as you alternated between shuddering and struggling, breathy moans sneaking into your laughs. Soon, there were more moans than giggles and your thrashing had become disguised humping, an action that Tony was reciprocating instinctively. An unexpectedly loud moan from both Tony and yourself as you both bucked into each other sharply sent both of you crashing back into reality.

  Both of you stilled almost instantly. Nobody dared move a muscle as what both of you processed what you just did. You stared at Tony, unable to break eye contact while Tony stared back, his blush mirroring yours. Both of you were painfully aware of his erection that was pressed between your legs. Amidst the awkwardness and embarrassment though, was lust, and neither of you could decide if you wanted to bury yourself in a hole for the rest of eternity or kiss the other person senseless.

  A loud grumble from Tony’s stomach made that decision for you.

  “We should probably get breakfast,” you choked out, voice still breathless.

  Tony nodded dumbly and then swallowed thickly, “Yea we should.”

 “Yea,” you echoed.

  For a moment nobody moved, then faster than the naked eye could follow, Tony scrambled off you and dashed off into the toilet. Burying your head into the soft pillow, you muffled a scream.

  Well that was great way to start your morning.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Breakfast was, expectedly, awkward. Lunch wasn’t any better, some light conversation was managed. However you and Tony’s attempt at pretending the morning’s incident didn’t happen failed spectacularly. You could hardly look at each other without blushing or stammering. To make matters worse, Tony’s original plans had been to stay in for the day, so both of you couldn’t even distract yourselves with sights and activities. Having run out of things to do, the two of you had to resort to an early dinner, which was what you were munching on thoughtfully.

  Silence reigned supreme as you chewed mechanically, the taste of the food lost to you as you were deep in thought. Sure, what happened in the morning was unexpected, but hardly inconceivable. You were both consenting adults who are attracted to each other. The turn of events, albeit surprising, wasn’t abnormal. Besides, Tony bedded women all the time, heck, you played witness to the foreplay involved more than once, so why were you still blushing like a shy schoolgirl? ‘It’s all just natural, biological reaction,’ your mind asserted. Conclusion in mind, you decided that the awkward tension that plagued the two of you for the better half of the day had to go. Evidently Tony had similar thoughts because both of you spoke at the same time.

  “Uh…”

 Both of you quickly snapped your mouth shut and stared at each other, eyes meeting as you did. Your face heated up almost instantaneously, and all previous thoughts about defusing the situation left you. An awkward silence once again settled between the two of you and after a while, you decided to try again.

  “So,” you brought up with false cheer, “What’s next on the agenda?”

  Tony pulled out his phone and scrolled down to the itinerary. “Jacuzzi,” he read out loud without thinking. You twiddled your fingers awkwardly as you waited for a follow-up comment, but there was none. Unable to take the tense silence anymore, you stood up abruptly, muttering about changing into your swimsuit.

  It seemed like a great excuse at the time, it gave you a chance to regroup in the bathroom and clear your head. It was only when you walked back out in your bikini did both of you realize how terrible the Jacuzzi idea was. Tony had taken the liberty of changing into his swimming trunks and found himself a spot in the Jacuzzi that occupied the balcony. You felt incredibly self-conscious, walking towards the balcony, not because Tony was staring at your barely-covered form but because he was trying so hard to _not_ stare. Tony gave you a wide berth as you settled yourself in the Jacuzzi, scooting away to the far end of the tub leaving a good meter of space between the two of you. The awkward silence continued as you both snuck obvious glances at each other.

  You wanted to berate yourself for all your not-so-subtle glances, but it was hard for your eyes to not stray when a shirtless Tony sat across you. ‘Shirtless and _wet_ ,’ your unhelpful mind supplied. While you were raging a battle against your hormones, Tony was waging a war of his own. Namely, one between his head and his dick. Unfortunately for him, the latter was winning. It wasn’t his fault though, Tony tried to reason with himself. You were in a bikini, a _revealing_ bikini (granted, he was one who bought it). It was taking all of Tony’s willpower to not mentally undress you, not that there was much left to imagination. Noting that his thoughts had taken a dangerous turn, Tony tried to distract himself with other thoughts. That plan ran awry too when the morning’s images came flooding flooded him. Except now, your sleeping clothes were replaced by the bikini you were now wearing.  From the corner of your eye you could see a bulge beginning to form in Tony’s trunks. Resigning in the blush that was starting to spread, you fumbled for a solution. Glancing around wildly (or as wildly as you can without being obvious), your eyes settled the bar tucked away in the suit. Life wasn’t such a bitch after all.

  Remembering that it was Friday, you quickly got out, towelling yourself at record speed and made a beeline for the bar. Tony’s eyes followed you with a confused look on his face.

  “Can’t go around ruining our Friday night ritual now can we?” you commented.

  Tony nodded, but waited a while before following suit (probably waiting out his unfortunate hard-on), and took his usual seat before you at the bar. Tony sat quietly while you picked out alcohols for the drink, drowning himself in your fluid motions. Conversation hadn’t been this sparse since the first cocktail night you guys had. Frankly, the silence was killing you.

  “Tony, could you put on some music?” You asked as you shovelled some ice into the shaker. Grateful for something to break the silence, Tony did as he was asked. Several moments later, acid jazz filled the room. Figuring that you guys needed a stiff drink, you mixed up something you don’t normally make. Setting two cups before Tony, you gave the lighter a twirl before setting the drink aflame, the alcoholic beverage instantly caught fire. You tried to keep the surprise off your face when the fire burned stronger than you expected it to, so perhaps increasing the dosage of the drink wasn’t such a good idea….

  “The Zombie,” you stated as you waited for the fire burned itself out.

  Picking up the glass carefully, Tony gave it a suspicious sniff. “What’s in it?”

  “4 different types of rum, apricot brandy, pineapple juice and lime juice,” you rattled as you picked up your own drink and took a generous sip.

  Tony hmmed and brought the drink to his lips. “Doesn’t taste that alcoholic.” He stated and then proceeded to chug the drink.

  The action annoyed you a little, as a bartender, you prefer your cocktails to be enjoyed, not downed like cheap liquor. So Tony wants to get drunk? Then he shall.

  4 more deceptively strong cocktails later, Tony was getting sufficiently tipsy, as were you. Truth of the matter was, while your alcohol tolerance was above average, you weren’t impervious to its effects like Tony assumed. Your body simply metabolizes alcohol much faster, hence allowing you sober up and avoid hangovers. That and you operated at a much higher level than most people when under the influence of alcohol. Hence despite your sharp movements, you were actually getting quite buzzed. You paused your work as you thought about what drinks to make next. You’ve pretty much gone through most of the heavy hitters, other equally strong drinks would require very little mixing and thus wouldn’t keep you occupied for long. But who were you kidding, even with the music, the silence was getting unbearable.

  “…You wanna learn how to make a Malibu Sunrise?” You asked suddenly.

  Tony looked up from his glass at the sudden question. “Um….sure.” He shrugged.

  “Come around,” you motioned, moving in further to make space for Tony.

  Tony slid behind the bar and listened to your explanation with interest, inwardly glad for the distraction from the tension that’s been haunting the two of you all day.

 “Mix the Malibu and the orange juice, then pour the grenadine syrup down the side. Got it,” Tony said, fumbling with the bottle of Malibu eagerly.

 You hung back, amused. Tipsy Tony was fun to watch. You wisely kept quiet as Tony over-poured the Malibu and nearly spilled the orange juice.

“This is a lot harder than it looks,” Tony admitted. Your actions have always been so fluid and steady, he felt like a clumsy kid compared to you.

You smiled and shook your head slowly. “It takes a while, you’re doing really good for your first time,” you said as you passed Tony the bar spoon to the shaker. You had intended to let Tony stumble through his first cocktail, but your body moved on its own when Tony started stirring he drink much like how most people stir their tea. “No no, you’re not supposed to let the spoon hit the sides of the glass!” You blurted out.

Tony quickly stopped what he was doing, “Then how am I supposed to stir it?”

“You’re supposed to swirl the spoon in such a way that the ice is suspended in a small…whirlpool in the glass. The spoon can’t hit the sides of the glass or the ice or it’ll melt even faster and mess up the ratio..” You struggled to explain the technique in English.

“….Whirlpool? Really?” Tony raised a skeptical eyebrow at you.

Sighing, you moved between Tony and the bartop, trapping yourself between Tony’s naked torso and the counter without much thought. Grabbing Tony’s hand with your own, you moved his hands into position and guided him through the process, completely neglecting how your unclothed back was in contact with his equally unclothed body. Tony laughed to himself, you were always so adorably focused on all things cocktail related. He was certainly savouring the moment though, it wasn’t every day that you initiated physical contact, especially not in your current state of undress. 

“You get the feeling now Tony?” You craned your neck round to ask, forgetting how close you were to him. You immediately realized your mistake however when you locked gazes with Tony, his nose only millimetres away from yours. Suddenly you lost all ability to speak as you were enraptured by Tony’s clouded gaze.

  “Dance with me.” Tony asked, his voice no louder than a whisper.

All you could do was nod dumbly, the closeness, combined with the husky quality of Tony’s voice overriding all your senses. If you were any more sober, you’d have blamed the sudden change in atmosphere on the alcohol. As it was however, all you were capable of doing was reaching up to wrap your hands around his neck while Tony wrapped his arms around your waist. Both of you swayed slowly to the music, caught up in the alcohol induced moment. Your faces drifted closer and closer and eventually your lips met. The kiss was languid, but full of passion. Tony wasted no time snaking his tongue pass your lips, savouring the lingering taste of the cocktails in your mouth. You instinctively returned the gesture, your tongue coiling around his in an almost teasing manner.

  Suddenly aware of the amount of skin contact you guy shared, the urge to deepen the kiss magnified and you tightened your arms around him, pulling him down so you could kiss him better. After several moments of playful tongue action, Tony broke the kiss moved to suckle on the skin of your neck, causing you to moan and grind into him. You craned your neck to reciprocate the action but was unable to reach his neck. So instead, you ran your hands up and down his chest, caressing as you went. Moans fell from your lips as you savoured the feeling of Tony’s rippling muscles beneath your fingers, feeling every bit as amazing and delicious as you imagined. Your actions seemed to have turned Tony on even more because he backed you into the wall non-too-gently and bit into your neck, cupping your ass as he did. The pain-laced pleasure had you moaning and bucking against him. Instinctively you, you wrapped your legs around Tony. He took that as a cue to pick you up carry you towards the bed.

  Inhibitions completely forgotten, Tony threw you onto the bed and straddled you roughly, his lips never once leaving your body. He continued to kiss your neck, making his way down your collar, then to the valley of your breasts, his fingers pinching your nipples through your swimsuit. You arched into him uncontrollably, pleasure shooting through your body. But the contact was clearly not enough for Tony. Annoyed at the material separating him from your skin, he undid the knot the held your top together and yanked it off, throwing it across the room without a glance. Too drunk on alcohol and pleasure to be self-conscious, you moaned Tony’s name wantonly when he captured a stiff bud between his lips. His tongue winding around your nipple while he sucked. Your hips humped his without your permission, craving for friction of any sort.

  “Tony,” you moaned.

  Tony released the tortured bud and looked up, chuckling at your needy form. Your hair spilled over the pillow, your face flushed and your eyes clouded with pleasure. Dissatisfied by the sudden lack of contact, you pulled him in for a heated kiss, grinding your hips into his erection to relief your arousal. Tony broke the kiss and nipped your ear.

  “Naughty girl,” he admonished gently, his voice low. At that, Tony trailed his hand lower and lower until his fingers were resting gently against your lower lips. He rubbed them and smirked at the dampness on the material. “You got out from the Jacuzzi hours ago,” he teased.

  You pouted but couldn’t maintain your displeasure for long as he rubbed soft circles on your clit. “Tony,” you breathed, “Please.”

 “Well since you asked so nicely,” Tony commented with a teasing lilt in his voice. Instead of touching you more however, Tony moved his hands away, causing you to mewl in protest. Chuckling at your reaction, Tony pulled off the last article of clothing on you with his free hand, leaving you completely naked beneath him.

  The feeling of being completely undressed before Tony left a rush in you, without thinking you pulled Tony down, crashing your lips into his, an action which he gladly obliged. As he tongue danced against yours, his fingers resumed their previous position. Dipping a finger into your entrance, Tony swore into the kiss. Wriggling his finger inside you, Tony broke the kiss to ask, “Fuck you’re tight, when was the last time you did this again?”

  You addled brain took a while to process the question. “9 years ago,” you replied succinctly before attacking Tony’s neck.

  “Fuck, it’s practically going to be like fucking a virgin,” he muttered between gasps caused by your ministrations. He added another finger, stretching you, as he mapped out the most intimate place on your body. Your open mouthed kisses turned into a bite as Tony curled his fingers to rub against your g-spot. The moan your bite drew from Tony had you repeating the action as he continued to thrust his sopping digits in and out of your pussy. Deciding that you were prepared enough, Tony withdrew his fingers, pausing for a moment to lick them clean. Not thinking straight, you rose up to join him, licking your own juices off his fingers, your tongue mashing with his as he drew you in for a kiss instead.

  While you were distracted, Tony quickly pulled his own trunks off and you stole a glance at the member that has been pressed against you so many times today. If your lips weren’t occupied you’d have licked them in anticipation. You lifted your hips to rub against Tony’s now uncovered member, silently urging him to continue. Tony broke the kiss and settled between your legs, lining up his member against your entrance. You held your breath in anticipation of being filled, being taken by the man you love. Tony squeezed his eye shut as he felt the head of his cock press into your waiting entrance and he couldn’t resist the urge to look down at your eager and willing form.

   ‘Mine, my love, my woman-‘ he thought and then he stopped short. The passionate gleam in Tony’s eyes faded into a cross between horror and disappointment and he scrambled off you the second time that day, throwing the blanket over you as he did.

  “I’m sorry (f/n) I can’t,” Tony blurted out suddenly. Fuck, he swore to himself, he couldn’t believe how badly he screwed up. He had gotten too carried away. You on the other hand, left hanging, with no explanation felt your temper flaring.

“What the fuck Tony? What do you mean you can’t?” Your sexual-frustration fuelling your anger. He did not just put you through all that and leave you hanging before the main event. Besides, this is Tony, Tony Stark, he does not get cold feet at all things related to sex.

“I just…I can’t alright. I’m sorry,” Tony struggled to explain. He should have just waited, why didn’t he wait, it was just another few hours. Why did he have to go think with his dick. Stupid stupid Tony.  He tried so hard to do things right by you and he had to screw up at the last minute.

 Tony’s explanation, or lack of thereof, left you feeling vulnerable and disgusting. You were aware that Tony often bedded much more attractive women, but you didn’t think you looked that terrible. Was it your scars? Despite your best efforts, you were a cage fighter and a bodyguard, it was impossible to be unmarked, even with your skills. But the worst of your scars was a thin, faded white line across your lower back, the rest were barely visible thanks to laser treatment, courtesy of Kisara-sama. You curled up into a ball subconsciously, insecurity written all over your face. You were not going to cry, you weren’t.

  Tony snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see the damage he has done. Oh great he’s screwed up even more. Now he’s made you feel like shit.

“Babe, look at me, it’s not you, it’s me,” he started then stopped when he realized that what he just said probably made things even worse.

“It’s you? Well I guess it has to be, you’re the one who’s always being serviced by gorgeous women, totally not my fault that I don’t live up to your standards,” you spat out bitterly without thinking.

  Tony groaned. He definitely just made things worse. Seeing Tony speechless, you angrily got off the bed, clutching the blanket to your body to get dressed. You were feeling far too vulnerable naked.

Your sudden action alarmed Tony and he quickly called out, “(f/n)! Wait!”

“What!? I’m going to get dressed so you don’t have to look at my disgusting body anymore!” You all but yelled.

 Tony wanted to shoot himself in the head, repeatedly. Really? You thought you weren’t attractive to him? Even though he was sitting there with a raging hard-on despite all his self-loathing?

“I just wanted to do things right by you!” He blurted out.

You stopped.

“What?” You cocked your head to the side in confusion.

He sighed, looks like cat’s out of the bag.

“You’re…you’re important to me. You’re not just another notch in my bedpost and I don’t want you to feel that way. I wanted things to be official before we took this step,” he confessed.

  You sat back down with a huff, uncertain if you wanted to be relieved or annoyed. You decided on both, because for fuck’s sake, for the first time in your life, sex actually seemed like it would feel good. You actually felt good and wanted to fuck, but no, Tony chooses this time to be sentimental.

“Look Tony I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t know when you’ll be ready. And I don’t want to be left sexually frustrated until you are ready to be official!” You said, trying hard not to sound annoyed and failing.

  Tony searched your eyes and then sighed loudly. Then, very grudgingly, he admitted, “I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend tonight, after dinner. But I guess now it’s ruined.” He sighed bitterly.

  You perked up at that. He was planning to confess to you tonight? “So, does that mean we can do it now?” You asked hopefully.

Tony mock glared at you and threw a pillow in your face which you caught with ease. “No, we can’t.”

You pouted, “But!” You whined.

  Tony stood up, shimmied into his boxers and threw one of his shirts in your direction.

“But nothing. I need to go figure out a new surprise confession now. And don’t give me that look,” he warned as you attempted to give him the puppy dog eyes. “I said I’ll do things right by you and I mean it.” He said resolutely.

  You sighed, Tony was nothing if not stubborn, you knew you weren’t going to get him to change his mind on the issue. So instead, you tried for a different angle.

“Alright, but…at least help get me off?” You asked with a tinge of hope as you dropped the blanket.

  Tony drank in your naked form, sorely tempted but then shook his head. You had no idea what you did to him. Tony was a man of his word, yes, but he also wasn’t a saint. He didn’t trust his self-control to be good enough to resist the temptation of fucking you senseless a second time. So, despite his dick screaming at him for being an idiot, Tony moved to pull his shirt over your head.

  “Go to sleep babe,” he stated in a tone that you often used on him when he was being petulant.

  Inwardly, you mused at the role reversal. “But Tony~~” You whined again.

“Go to sleep (f/n),” he repeated, and without waiting for your reaction, he pulled you under the covers with him, once again spooning you.

  Knowing that the decision was final, you sighed and snuggled against Tony’s naked torso. For a moment all was silent, then you snuck a glance and noticed that Tony was still wide awake. Biting your lips, you decided to take the risk. You moved up to press a chaste kiss to his lips, and you looked at him shyly with half-lidded eyes.

“I love you Tony.” There you said it.

“I-“ Tony opened his mouth to reply and then stop short. He looked at you with narrowed eyes and you stuck your tongue out. Looks like your plan was found out. “Nice try babe, now go sleep.” He huffed good naturedly.

You shrugged. Oh well, it was worth the shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahem...*blush* 
> 
> Yea...that just happened. Part of me is wondering if it's a quantum leap, from first kiss to well..this. 
> 
> But uh, I mean there's been sexual tension building since chapter 1, and Tony isn't a saint or anything, and I mean..alcohol. 
> 
> Well, if the sudden smut was too sudden..IT'S TOO LATE NOW. IT HAS HAPPENED. WE SHALL CHAMPION ON. 
> 
> Thank you guys for all your awesome comments and kudos! >-


	14. Omake ficlet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Tony. Wish I did, but I don't. 
> 
> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, also I am sorry that this isn't chapter 14 proper. Life has been beyond crazy. I stuck between digging myself a hole and crawling inside to have a mental breakdown and setting a nuclear bomb on the world. Instead I decided to churn out a little ficlet on the train on my way home today. Cocktails haven't made an appearance in the story for a while and this fic IS called Bar Top Romance. 
> 
> That and it was Cocktail Week last week and I've had so many cocktails that I've sworn off alcohol for a while. 
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy this very very short ficlet (it's like 1/10 the length of my usual chapters...)

"So this is supposed to make the whisky taste better?" Tony eyed you skeptically.

Carefully dribbling water down the back of the barspoon, you nodded. "It's supposed to mellow out the edge of the whisky and bring out the richness of the malt."

"...that's just a fancy way of saying you're diluting the whisky." The billionaire deadpanned.

You shot him a glare. A mizuwari was so much more than just diluted whisky.

"I can't believe we drove around New York state just so you can make me diluted whisky," he whined and you resisted the urge to stab him with the ice pick.

"First of all, it's not diluted whisky, second of all we didn't drive all over New York state, it was just Manhattan and Brooklyn!" You argued back. And really it wasn’t your fault that the specialty ice shop was located in Brooklyn while the shop that carried the soft water was in the meatpacking district. 

"Whatever you say my dear, now can I have my fancy diluted whisky?"  Tony teased, placing a kiss on your neck.

You resisted the urge to simultaneously stab Tony and shudder in response to his actions. Stupid Tony and his ridiculous ability to elicit conflicting emotions in you...

Eyeing your handiwork one last time, you handed Tony his mizuwari.

Tony grabbed it non too gently and tipped his head in preparation to chug the drink. With reflexes honed over years of training, you smacked him before he could complete the action.

"Sip it." You ordered.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Okay okay, no need to get violent." Bringing the glass to his lips carefully, he thought back to how this whole incident started.

It was another cocktail Friday, and after a few drinks Tony wanted you to make him something uniquely Japanese. Your first reaction was to make him a mizuwari, which was whisky mixed with....water on the rocks.

Of course, as with all simple drinks, the perfect mizuwari was deceptively complex to made. It called for the perfect whisky, hard ice made from distilled water that had 0% impurities that didn't melt easily and soft water that was low in minerals. The latter two were things you didn’t have lying around in the Stark Tower bar, which was why after sending Jarvis on a research run, you dragged Tony across town to make your perfect tipple.

Despite his skepticism, Tony indulged you because that is what Tony does. Although he had no doubts about your cocktail making skills, he was regardless, skeptical about how water could make single malt whisky better.

You watched Tony sip his mizuwari with bated breath, you knew you had inevitably set the expectation for the drink so high that it was possible that going to be disappointed by the simplicity of it. But you stood by your work, it was the best mizuwari a person can find on this side of the earth. Any better, they’d have to fly to Japan for it.

The billionaire playboy sloshed the liquid in his mouth, letting the taste seep into his tongue...and turned to stare at you with stunned eyes.

Swallowing, Tony couldn't control the disbelief that colored his voice. "How..."

"I told you, the water mellows out the alcoholic edge and deepens the flavor." You answered his unspoken question, smugness tinting your voice.

Taking another sip of his drink, Tony grudgingly admitted defeat. "Okay, you were right, this is more than diluted whisky." He pulled you into his lap and buried his face in your neck. "You’re always so full of surprises aren't you?"

At that, Tony couldn’t help but muse about how different things have become ever since you entered his life. Every day, every single day with you is always full of small surprises. The weekly cocktail surprises, animal shaped pancakes for dinner…You brightened up his jet-setting life with all these supposedly mundane surprises…not unlike how the water brightened up this whisky. Amused, he took another greedy sip.

"Hey, share the drink!" You half whined. You could always make yourself another one, but you balancing the ratio of ice to water to whisky perfectly seemed too troublesome at the moment.

Grinning mischievously, Tony stared you in the eye as he drained the glass of its contents. Immediately, you begin squirming in protest. Great now you had to make yourself a new one…

Just as you were about to get up, Tony grabbed you by the shoulder and covered your lips with his. You stilled and parted your lips obediently when Tony’s tongue, cold from the drink, sought for yours. Slowly, the drink trickled into your mouth and shifted yourself to wrap your arms around Tony’s neck as he continued to leisurely feed you the drink through the kiss.

Never let it be said that Tony stark was a selfish man when it came to his drinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the usual thank you spiel again! Thank you guys for all the love, kudos and comments. You guys are the bomb! 
> 
> Anyways, mizuwari is a real drink that is commonly served in Japan. Why Japanese people thought it'd be a good idea to mix water and whisky is beyond me, but for people who enjoy the taste of whisky but not the burn of the alcohol, it's something worth trying, but mind you, the real drink is nowhere near as magical as described in the fic. 
> 
> Also, I based the bar the reader worked in in Japan on Eden Hall, the bar from the anime Bartender. Do check out that anime, I love it, it's really nice to watch in the evenings after a long day of work. And no, there will be no crossover elements from Bartender, the world in this fic is complicated enough as it is. I'm still wondering if I should incorporate shadow magic, millennium items and mutant powers into the story because..well because I can. 
> 
> As usual, all the love! <3


	15. All good things come to an end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by me except the story idea and 'you'.
> 
> Hello my lovely readers, I HAVE RETURNED! Sorry for the long wait, this baby monster of mine has decided to be go through a difficult period, but more on that later. 
> 
> WE HAVE PROGRESS!! On so many levels, you shall see. I was re-reading the chapter and realized that I'm quite the sadistic authoress, two chapters of fluff and bamf I'm cockblocking my own characters. Oh well, what has to be done, needs to be done. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

  You though that you would spend the days after the almost-confession/sex-night sexually frustrated and impatiently waiting for Tony to spring his surprise confession on you. Boy were you wrong.

  Well, you were still sexually frustrated, and yes you did have anxiety attacks every other day, but it was for a completely different reason known as the Stark Expo. Tony obviously didn’t pay his staff enough because the moment Tony and you returned from Mallorca, there was a mountain of work waiting the two of you.

  “ ‘Let’s go on a vacation!’ he said, ‘I don’t pay all those idiots in the office good money to make you sit here and do their work,’ he said,” You growled sarcastically under your breath as you sorted through the endless paperwork surrounding the expo.

    To be fair, Tony was drowning in equal amounts of work as you were. Lots of the paperwork required his final approval and the blueprints Kaiba sent over all needed to be looked over by Tony due to the inclusion of arc reactors.

  “He is sitting right here and can hear every word you say,” came Tony’s sardonic reply from across the table.

  You stuck your tongue out rebelliously and continued to slog through the administrative mess. The fact that Tony did not continue the banter was proof of just how much work you were both drowning in.  You and Tony exchanged looks and sighed. The two of you have been stuck in his workshop for the past 72 hours, with only coffee, tea and the occasional fruit salad keeping you guys going.

  “What’s taking Bruce so long?” Tony whined, his stomach growling loudly in protest.

  Normally, you would have taken time off to cook. However the holiday had rendered most ingredients in the fridge unusable and with the last minute overtime you were now pulling, there just wasn’t any time to go grocery shopping. You tried to make do with the yougurt and fruits left in the pantry, but your bodies demanded real sustenance. In a fit of desperation, Tony actually called Bruce to buy food for the two of you.

  “I told you to just get JARVIS to order take out,” you sighed, your stomach growling in agreement.

  Tony wrinkled his nose and tutted at you, “Hey now it is not my fault that my favourite pizza joint don’t do delivery.”

  “You know, my sensei used to say, if you still have the energy to be picky, then you’re obviously not hungry enough,” you tossed out.

  Tony’s face immediately turned contentious, but before he could say anything, the door to workshop opened, and the smell of food immediately filled the room.

  “Oh glorious sustenance, I could almost kiss you Bru-,” Tony stopped short when he saw who the delivery person was.

  “Please don’t do that Stark, I really don’t want to break your arm,” one Natasha Romanoff declared as she held out your box of pizza.

  Ignoring the sulking Tony (not that he would admit that he was sulking), you got up grabbed the food from the redhead.

  “Thanks, um…where is Dr. Banner?” You asked as you helped yourself to a slice of pizza, blatantly ignoring Tony who was wildly gesturing at himself. The childlike man could get his own pizza thank you very much.

  “Fury needed him for something,” Natasha answered offhandedly, her interest occupied by the holograms that filled the room. “My god, this expo makes the Chitauri paperwork look cute,” she commented as she scanned through the documents you guys were working on.

  You and Tony would have been a lot more concerned about having these documents seen by the Black Widow except:

  1.        If Natasha wanted, she could have acquired these information using her espionage skills anyways
  2.        SHIELD actually had a small degree of stake in the expo



  “What kind of doomsday project is Fury working that he needs the big green guy but not Iron Man?” Tony, who had resignedly got up from his seat to attack his pizza, asked.

  “The kind that requires gamma radiation expertise?” Natasha answered smoothly as she casually made an amendment to one of the documents. “You’re going to want to fill up a customs form for that, arms export ban,” she clarified.

  “Oh so they want Bruce Bruce, not angry Bruce.”  
  “How is that arms?”

  You and Tony said simultaneously.

  By some miracle of god, or maybe just years of spywork, Natasha managed to catch both sentences. “Yes, Fury actually needs Dr. Banner’s expertise. Dr. Sumeragi said that there were some unique radiation signatures off the robot suits we brought in and needed a second opinion. And Kaiba’s virtual reality gadgets are considered arms because both the Stark and Kaiba goods are still on the militia to-watch list.”

  “Hey, we’re doing renewable energy now k. Get with the program Romanoff,” Tony retorted defensively.

  “Kaiba corp is a games company now,” you added.

  “Decades worth of reputation dies hard,” Natasha shrugged as she flipped through yet another document. Before she could get too far however, Tony waved the holograms away, effectively ending the redhead’s reading spree.

  “I was reading that,” the SHIELD agent said pointedly.

  “And now you’re not,” Tony quipped.

  Against your better judgement, you budged in. “Tony, be nice.”

 “Make me.” Tony stuck his tongue out.

  “I mean it Tony, behave or I’m suspending your cocktail privileges,” your narrowed your eyes.

  “You wouldn’t…”he hissed.

  “Wanna bet?” You levelled.

  The stand-off continued for a few more seconds, but eventually Tony slunk back into his chair, sulking. You had won. While the billionaire took angry bites off his pizza, Natasha was eyeing the two of you with what could be considered an incredulous expression for the master spy (aka her eyebrows were raised). It took a few moments before she collected herself enough to speak.

  “So, are you two together yet?” Natasha asked without beating around the bush.

  Her question was greeted by a bout of tense silence.

Tony dragged his palm across his face and cussed under his breath. Of all the insensitive questions in the world...

You on the other hand huffed in frustration. You were just about over that issue and now she's got to bring it up again…you flicked your unfinished pizza crust into the box angrily in an attempt to release some of the frustration that was building up.

Natasha looked back and forth between the two of you. “Ookay...I'll take that as a no...”

Eyeing Tony purposefully, you gritted out, “Yea, you do that.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  It took another 2 more days of non-stop working, but the paperwork mountain was finally conquered. Coincidentally (or perhaps not so coincidentally), it was also a Friday. Which meant only one thing.

  “Cocktails!” Tony exclaimed enthusiastically, kicking his chair off the work station as he did. You watched him spin around in his chair amusedly. The billionaire superhero could be such a kid at times.

  “Dinner first, never drink on an empty stomach,” you chided good naturedly. Mentally, you ran through the list of things in the pantry and winced. “I’ll need to make a grocery run..” Pot roast would be good, sandwiches were probably faster but this was supposed to be a celebratory dinner of sorts.

  “Um…actually,” Tony piped up, tone uncertain. You stopped your thinking and turned to him.

  “Actually?”

  “Well, how should I put this,” Tony said, more to himself than to you. You waited patiently, Tony acting odd usually called for patience, lots of it. “Dinner is kind of taken care of,” he stated with an odd touch of tentativeness.

  Nevertheless, you nodded. “Oh great, then I’ll just go prep the bar…come to think of it I haven’t had time to try out the juices we bought in Mallorca yet.” Your brain immediately went into bartender mode as you said that. Grabbing a spare piece of paper that was on the table, you started scribbling cocktail ideas.

  Tony bit his lip and sighed, how should he do this. Upon hearing his sigh, you looked at him again. Okay, it’s official, something’s up.

  “What’s up,” You asked, tone deadpanned.

  “Nothing, absolutely nothing. Well okay, maybe there is this one little thing….” He stalled.

  Rolling your eyes, you shot him you an irritated glare, “Tony. Spill.”

  Heaving a loud sigh, Tony opened his mouth and then closed it, then after a few seconds of silence, he finally replied.  “Okay, here’s the deal. Dinner is taken care of, but I need you out of the house for about….half an hour. Actually 45 minutes would be better.”

  “Why?” Your simple question was met with a not so simple response. You watched Tony’s face contort into a complicated expression, one that you’ve seen very recently, on a specific night at a certain resort. And suddenly, things clicked. “Never mind, forget I asked.” Indeed, you won’t be repeating that mistake again.

  Tony shot you a grateful smile, and your heart fluttered. “Wonderful, now get your wonderfully perky ass out of the tower, I don’t want to see you for the next 45 minutes.”

  You wisely ignored the ass comment, but there was another problem. “Like out of the tower completely? I can’t just stay in my room or something?” Tony shook his head. Now it was your turn to bite your lip. “Um Tony…I can put two and two together. So unless my guessing skills had deteriorated badly over the past few days, I’m guessing the reason why you need me out of the house has something to do with what Natasha asked the other day?” Tony nodded, a little crestfallen, a reaction which confirmed your suspicions. “Hey, cheer up, I don’t know exactly what the surprise is.” Tony perked up at that, then upon realizing that you’ve basically declared that you’ve already figured out that he had planned a surprise confession, he glared at you. “Right, forget I said that. But yea…if this has to do with what I think it has to do with….I really need to shower, I’ve been cooped up here for the last 48 hours and I’m disgusting.” Making out while covered in grime is definitely not high on your to-do-list.

  Tony nibbled on his thumb sheepishly, “Yes, shower…umm…that’s also kind of…”

  “Taken care of?” You finished for him, an amused grin threatening to split on your face.

  Tony nodded grimly, so much for you not figuring out the surprise. Oh well, at least you still didn’t know the whole gist of it, and Tony intends to keep it that way. Which meant getting you out of the house before you could puzzle more of it out. “On that note, you should totally get going. Here is…$20, go get yourself some coffee, or tea, or ice-cream. Actually don’t get yourself ice-cream, or food. You know what, just go on your grocery run anyways. We could use the food for breakfast or lunch tomorrow.”

  Hustling up some more cash, Tony stuffed them all into your hands and shoved you towards the door. “Now go, before you ruin your surprise.” You chuckled in response but obeyed.

  At the doorway, you suddenly remembered something. “Tony,” you tugged at his hand just as he was about to turn away.

  “Yea?”

  You looked him in the eye, expression soft. “I lo-“ A finger on your lips cut you off. You almost gasped in surprise at how fast Tony closed the distance between the two of you.

  His form towered over you, and you watched, mesmerized as his eyes raked over your lips with obvious desire. Instead of a kiss however, all you got was his thumb running across your lips. Leaning in, you shivered as Tony’s lips brushed against your ear. “Save that for later.”

  You nodded dumbly and Tony took the opportunity to push you out the door.

  “JARVIS, please make sure our lovely lady clears the building and only returns after 45 minutes.” Tony ordered.

  “Yes sir.” The ever dutiful AI replied.

  “I get it! I’m not welcomed here.” You mumbled with mock annoyance as you showed yourself out. Inwardly, your stomach was doing somersaults. Finally, progress!

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You almost skipped back to the building, earning yourself a few concerned glances along the way, but you brushed them off. Arm full of groceries, you hummed a tune and bounced up the steps of Stark Tower, only to be greeted by an uninvited guest.

  “Mr Rhodes?” You asked the military man who stood at the entrance of the tower, concern marring his face.

  “Oh, Ms (l/n),” he nodded in your direction.

  You noted his lack of uniform and the paper bag in his hands. “Is this a social call?” You asked carefully.

  Rhodey shot you an unreadable expression. “Not exactly, Tony asked me to run some errands for him, so I’m here to make the delivery. It was supposed to be a drop and go, but I’ve been waiting here for the past 15minutes and JARVIS isn’t letting me in. Tony isn’t answering his phone either, so I’m getting a little concerned…”

  You frowned. If it was unexpected visit, it would explain why Tony locked his best friend out of the building, he doesn’t like having unexpected appointments dropped onto him. Especially not military ones. But it was obvious that Rhodey was in on whatever Tony was planning, which meant that he should have been granted access. Nevertheless, it was possible that Tony was so caught up in whatever he was doing that he forgot to grant Rhodey access…but that’s what JARVIS was for. You see why Rhodey was concerned.

  “JARVIS,” you called out loudly. There was no reply. “JARVIS…system reboot, authorization (f/n) (l/n),” you ordered. There was still no reply. “Fucking hell,” you cursed and walked to the nearest control panel. Flipping it open, you punched in the manual overwrite code on to have the console flash a system error at you.

  Rhodey was stuck between marvelling at how much security access Tony has granted you and growing worry as all your access efforts were turning up system errors.

  “Something’s wrong,” you declared.

  To his credit, Rhodey just nodded instead of freaking out. “So now what?” He asked. As much as he wanted to take control of the situation, you still knew the tower better than him.

  “We need to access the tower…we need to get to JARVIS.” You stated, your mind going a hundred miles an hour. “Follow me,” you gestured with your head and jogged to the back of the tower.

  Rhodey followed suit, and you would have marvelled at the silly picture the two of you made, marching seriously with grocery bags in your hands, had the situation not been so serious. It took a while to get to the back of the tower despite the jogging, it was a big tower.

  “This is one of the tower’s breaker boxes,” you said as you accessed the hidden panel behind the metal plating that covered the exterior of the tower. Opening the box, you bit back a curse.

  “What’s wrong,” Rhodey asked urgently.

  You stepped aside to let the man take a look for himself. “That’s not Stark tech is it,” he stated more than asked. The offending, spider looking device that latched onto the circuits in the breaker box continued to blink. It was AT technology, you recognized. Head whirling with possibilities, you realized with a renewed sense of urgency that you needed to get inside the tower and get to Tony. Thankfully, removing the device took almost not technical expertise, all it took was a simple yank. You watched as the circuit panel flashed and noted the blinking patterns of the light. You thanked every deity there was out there that Tony had taken the time to drill the tower’s basic security system and protocol into your head.

  “Good, the tower’s system is rebooting itself, we should have JARVIS back about….now.” Exchanging quick nod with the military man next to you, you called out to the British AI. “JARVIS.”

  “Ms (l/n),” he acknowledged, and you let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh dear, it would seem that my system has been breached.”

  “I know, what happened?” You asked.

  “I was helping Mr Stark with his preparations when I felt the electronic attack on my system, I was unable to announce the intrusion before the attack hijacked my speech protocols, but I was able to put the building in lockdown before I was put to sleep completely.” You nodded, knowing that the AI could see and he took that as a sign to continue, “I’m disabling lockdown now, it would be best if we continued the conversation inside. It would seem that Mr Stark is missing from the tower.”

  You and Rhodey didn’t need to be told twice, both of you made a beeline for the penthouse within the tower. Upon arriving at the top floor, both of you looked around wildly, hoping to see signs or hints that would tell you about Tony’s whereabouts. But there were no signs of struggle.

  “JARVIS, I hope you got something,” Rhodey said as he inspected the room. You on the other hand, were staring at the candle-light dinner that was spread out on the bar, touched, worried and angry all at the same time.

  “The attack only deactivated all my active protocols, but did not affect my passive functions. It would seem that I have managed to record the attack on the passive security feeds within the tower.” JARVIS announced after a few moments.

  It wasn’t much, but it was something, and both your and Rhodey’s shoulders sagged marginally in relief. “Roll it,” Rhodey ordered. On cue, a holographic screen popped up before the two of you. You watched as a group of 8 masked perpetrators placed inside the circuit box and thereafter break into the tower. Instead of heading straight for Tony however, they went for Tony’s workshop in the basement. Then, you watched with daunting concern as the female figures of the attackers dissembled all of Tony’s suits in a short span of 25 minutes.

  “Tuners,” you muttered under your breath.

  “That cannot be humanly possible,” Rhodey breathed out in disbelief. Oh but it was, in fact they were already considered slow. A group 4 tuners, synchronized to the Pledge queen could dissemble one of Tony’s suits in under a minute. Whilst speed-assembly was a skill unique to AT technology, you knew that theoretically, with enough practice and understanding, it could be applied to other machinery as well.

  Then the scene fast-forwarded to 5 minutes later, and you watched in horror as Tony was ambushed on the balcony, while he was spreading rose petals in the newly installed Jacuzzi tub. That explained the lack of struggle, and also the lack of forced entry and exit despite the building’s lockdown. Tony was already outside when he was attacked. To his credit, Tony actually managed to fend off 3 of his attackers before he was overwhelmed and sedated. You watched, anger rising, as one of them hauled Tony onto their shoulders and escaped on an odd-shaped jet.

  “That jet is definitely not military issue, anywhere,” Rhodey stated.

  No it wasn’t, you agreed mentally, that aircraft was built using AT technology. Your blood boiled, first these people attack the Kaiba mansion, then they trash Tony’s party, then they cause you and Tony to fall-out while putting Pepper in mortal danger and almost kidnap your mom, and now this.

  Rhodey, who had no idea about your bloody background was shocked by the killer intent rolling off you. ‘She must really like Tony,’ he thought to himself. “This is way above my paygrade. We need to take this to SHIELD.” The air force commander said.

  You agreed, even though your first instinct was to hunt down those son of a bitches and tear them to bits. You didn’t have the formidable support of Malik and the rest of the Kaiba security team, you needed information and resources if you were going to raise hell.

  “I hope you don’t mind flying, this is the fastest way to get there and time is of the essence” Rhodey said as he gestured to War Machine that had flown in at Rhodey’s command. Apparently Tony had shared his suit-summoning technology.

  Instead of answering him, you called for the AI. “JARVIS.” As if reading your mind, the mechanical arms at the take-off pad of the balcony suited you up. Once you were in what Tony dubbed the ‘passenger suit’, you nodded at the Iron Patriot. “Lets go.”

  Nobody steals your charge, nobody.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Rhodey watched your form worriedly, and took yet another sip of the coffee that was offered to him. The two of you have been waiting in the meeting room for more than 15 minutes and all you got was ‘Director Fury will attend to you soon.’ You sat there, glowering, your coffee untouched.

  Then, the meeting room door slid open and both of you turned, expecting the one-eyed director, instead it was yet another runner agent. “Director Fury says he’ll be around soon, please be patient,” he said, doing his best to mask his nervousness. Ah yes, he was one of the newer agents whom you threw around during one of your distressing spars.

  Completely ignoring the agent’s words, you got up and exited the room. Rhodey shot an uncertain glance at the young agent and followed you.

  “Commander Rhodes, Ms (l/n)! You can’t go there! It’s for authorized personnel only! The agent yelled, chasing after the two of you. Ignoring his calls completely, you stormed your way to the bridge.

  “Commander Rhodes, Ms (l/n),” Fury acknowledged as you burst onto the bridge. “I believe I had my men tell you that I would be with you shortly.” He said calmly, with a hint of edge to his voice.

  “Yes well, you were taking too long,” you shot back, your typical professionalism nowhere to be found. Right now you weren’t (f/n) (l/n), Tony Stark’s personal assistant. Right now you were the hell hound, and the hell hound takes shit from no one.

  Rhodey’s eyes nearly fell out at the flagrant disrespect you were showing to the director of SHIELD. He knew you were upset that Tony was kidnapped but still…apparently the rest of the occupants on the bridge shared his sentiments and everyone was staring at you with varyubf degrees of shock,

  Fury eyed you critically, mentally debating whether or not to call you out for your disrespect, but someone else beat him to it.

  “You will show Director Fury some respect,” Agent Hill cut in from the side.

  Your mood darkened further, and you made it known. Focusing all your killer intent, you glared at the female agent, and she immediately shut up. Even though Agent Hill knew that she had a good chance of taking you out, especially with a bridge full of other SHIELD operatives, but you had the intent to kill while they were only going to subdue you. That meant blood will definitely be spilled. For now, it was probably prudent to not antagonize you further.

  Fury had obviously came to the same conclusion as his right-hand woman because he put his arm up, signalling for her and the rest of his agents to stand down. Your body-count was almost as high as Clint and Natasha’s, and you’ve only been in the business for a fraction of the time they have, pissing you off would not be a good idea.

  Seeing as no fight was about to break out, you asked the most important question. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “We seem to be having a bit of a quandary right now,” Fury started, purposefully not looking at you. You took note of this but made no move, yet. “Since yesterday, there had been no less than 6 attempts on Dr. Sumeragi. According to our intel, she is the prime target of this hostile organization.”

  “But none of the attempts have been successful right?” Rhodey asked, his military instincts kicking in.

  “No, we have devoted all available manpower to protecting Dr. Sumeragi.” You sensed a ‘but’ in there somewhere. “Which is the source of my quandary. SHIELD does not have the manpower she used to before the Hydra uprising. Currently, we don’t have the necessary men to look for Stark right now. But we are reordering personnel as we speak. A task force will be on it by tomorrow,” Fury finished.

  He was being unexpectedly forthcoming, but then again, of course he was, he was basically telling you that SHIELD can’t help. You contemplated how you should phrase your reply carefully.

  “Well we don’t have much time. Whoever these people are, they could be hurting Tony as we speak, so if SHIELD can’t get on it right away, I’ll just do it myself. Any information you have on the situation would be much appreciated.” Despite your mild annoyance, you decided to go for the more polite approach seeing as Fury was very generous with his explanation.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that Ms (l/n), our intel is classified and you are unfortunately not a SHILED agent,” the edge in his voice was back.

  A million and one comebacks ran through your head, but you managed to shove them aside. There was no time to waste, especially not on arguing with Fury who isn’t going to give you any information. “In that case Director Fury, I have no more business here.” At that, you walked off. You had calls to make.

  “Wait,” Fury called out, but you ignored him. You were done with SHIELD. “(l/n) I said STOP.” A team of 4 agents stepped in front of your path, forcing you to step. You whirled around and stared at Fury expectantly.

  “The situation is complicated enough as it is, I cannot have you going rouge and complicating it further. This isn’t Japan, you have no jurisdiction here,” Fury pressed.

  “Well then, you have my deepest apologies for all the inconveniences I’m about to cause you,” you threw back at him. Really, did it look like you gave a damn about jurisdiction? You made a move to push past the 4 agents.

  “THIS IS NOT A REQUEST MS (L/N), THIS IS AN ORDER.” Fury barked.

  Oh wow, raised voices, how intimidating, you rolled your eyes. “With all due respect Director Fury, it’s like you said, you’re not the one signing my paycheck, so you can’t order me to do anything. Good day director,” you bowed with mock pleasantry.

  Just as you were about to storm off the bridge, the entire Helicarrier shook, static flashed on every screen and alarms rang off everywhere.

  “WHAT’S GOING ON!” Fury bellowed.

  “Sir! We have a breach in our syste-…“ The technician on the bridge trailed off when every single screen on the bridge flickered to show the face of a familiar raven.

  “(f/n)-nee?” Your blood froze at the shaky tone of his voice.

  “Mokie?” You turned back and ran to the nearest console.

  “(f/n)-nee!!” If the desperation in his voice didn’t set you off, the tears that were running down his face would have.

  “Sir-“ An agent started but was waved off by Fury, if memory serves his right, this was the younger of the two Kaiba brothers.

  “Stand down, it doesn’t seem to be a deliberate attack.” Agent hill muttered while everyone waited to see what the crying teen would say.

  “Nii-sama, he…(f/n)-nee you have to get him back, I was, I shouldn’t have…” Mokuba choked out in between tears.

  Your blood froze at the words ‘get him back’. “Mokie, I need you to calm down and tell me exactly what happened,” you said slowly. Your surrogate little brother nodded and took a few calming breaths.

  “I was helping Nii-sama out with some prototype, I stepped out to grab dinner for both of us and-“Mokuba was suddenly cut off as he was pushed aside by a familiar blonde.

  “Kaiba’s been kidnapped, it’s the same people who attacked the mansion. I’ve sent out feelers for them now, I should have intel soon. What’s the plan wild cat?” Malik asked, his tone light, but the shadows in his eyes betrayed his seriousness.

  “We get them back.” You stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Them?” Malik and Mokuba chorused.

  “They took Tony,” your voice dropped several degrees.

  Malik looked like he wanted to say something, but Fury had heard enough.

  “Mr Ishtar, Mr Kaiba, I will overlook your hijacking of our system this once, on the condition that it is to never happen again and that you disclose your methods to us,” the aged director cut in.

  “Of course,” Malik acquiesced. Whatever helps the one-eyed man sleep at night, after all there was no system in the world that the Kaiba corporation mainframe can’t hack into. Frankly, hacking into SHIELD wasn’t even part of the plan. Mokuba, in his moment of panic sent Noah to contact you, obviously it didn’t occur to the green-haired Kaiba that he should have at least paused and asked for permission if he found you on a military aircraft. Then again, the Kaibas weren’t known for their common sense.

  “Where are you guys now?” You cut in.

  “En route to you,” Malik said. At that you finally took stock of the actual background on screen. They were in a cockpit, the blue-eye white dragon jet’s cockpit to be exact.

  “Meet me at Stark tower in 2 hours,” you threw out before anyone could say anything else. Malik nodded and the transmission was cut off. With the Helicarrier’s system back online, you turned to Fury. You had jurisdiction now, they took Kaiba. And new employment status or not, the hell hound only recognizes one owner. “I don’t suppose you could drop me off at the Stark Tower? It’s the least you could do,” you asked Fury with a sunny smile. 

  “I don’t suppose you could stay here and get Kaiba’s forces to collaborate with SHIELD once we have our task force arranged? It’s the least you could do,” the man levelled.

  You chortled, “It was worth a shot.” And walked off to find a jet or helicopter that you could steal.

  Rhodey, who returned to his senses called out after you, “Hey wait up!! I’ll give you a ride.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the plot is actually going somewhere, isn't this exciting! And yes, I staged a kidnap to cockblock Tony. Aren't I wonderful. anyways, we are 7 chapters away from finishing the story! I am actually holding out on watching Avengers 2 until I've finished this fic so I've got plenty of motivation to hurry it up. Apologies in advance, I suck at juggling multiple characters, writing action and descriptive scenes. I was so afraid that this chapter would be nothing but dialogue. BUT I WILL WORK HARD! FOR YOUR SAKE! And churn out something decent for everyone. 
> 
> What's going to happen next? What happened to Tony and Kaiba? Stay tuned to find out!
> 
> All the love! <3
> 
> P.S: Kudos and comments are the love. Thank you in advance!


	16. Lets play twenty questions! (or maybe not 20...just a few?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters used in this story (so far). Not even you, well not exactly. 
> 
> I'M BACK! Yes, finally got my ass around to finishing chapter 16. I have high writing inertia lately...meanwhile my plotbunny farm keeps growing. I swear, I might need to neuter these bunnies, THEY JUST KEEP POPPING UP! Anyways, apologies in advance because this chapter is just a whole bunch of dialogue. At least it progresses the plot? 
> 
> PS: I haven't actually had time to proof-read this yet, so if you see any errors, I AM SORRY!! I will get to it eventually.

  It took you Rhodey a little more than an hour to return to Stark Tower. It wasn’t that the Iron Patriot was slow, but because you ended up hitching a ride on a SHIELD chopper after all. Steve and Bruce who were on board the Helicarrier had overheard the situation and had offered to come along. (At which point the good old captain offered a ride on a chopper that you were pretty sure he wasn’t cleared to take but took anyways.)

  The four of you sat around the penthouse bar, no one saying a word as all of you waited for the arrival of Malik and Mokuba. To distract yourself, you had fallen back into the routine of cocktail making although no one was in the mood for drinks. You were on your sixth cocktail when the door of the elevator opened. The distinct sound of heels against the granite floor told you that it wasn’t who you were expecting.

  “It’s us,” Natasha declared. You, Steve and Rhodey stood down at that.

  “What are you two doing here?” You growled out, trying to be as accusing as possible. You actually liked the two SHIELD agents.

  “Fury sent us.”

  “We came to help.”

  The two assassins grimaced when they realized the inconsistency of their words.

  “So which is it, Fury sent you or you guys came here by yourselves?” Steve asked, an amused smile playing on his lips.

  “We’re here because we want to be,” Clint answered diplomatically, eyeing Natasha as he did.

  “SHIELD looks after their own my ass.” You parroted Natasha’s words from the helicarrier.   

   Said redhead simply sighed. Helping herself to one of the drinks of the bar, she took a long sip before replying. “Well think of it this way, Fury didn’t have to let two of his top agents run off to help out on a high-profile kidnapping case, but he did.”

  “Is that what the Mandarin incident was, a high-profile kidnapping case?” The sarcasm in your voice was almost tangible.

  Clint mimicked Natasha’s actions and grabbed a cocktail of his own, “Terrorist attacks, assassination of the president, we don’t care. Alien invasion? Diabolical plans to take over the world? Then we care.” His self-deprecating humour wasn’t lost and everyone bit back a small smile at that. “What about you two? Why are you guys here?” The archer asked his two fellow avengers.

  It was a valid question, Steve and Tony weren’t exactly best friends and Bruce preferred to not be involved in anything potentially violent unless the fate of the world depended on it. (And even then it was a grudging sort of involvement.)

  Steve replied first, “Stark may be an annoying son of a gun, but he’s our son of a gun.”

  Bruce shuffled around comfortably before answering. “Science brothers,” he cringed even as he said it.

  The awkward answer seemed to do the trick and all the tension that was mounting in the room gave way to laughter. As all of you recollected yourselves, you wondered what Tony would think of the situation. You knew that beneath all the narcissism, Tony held onto a healthy dose of self-doubt. To know that so many people genuinely cared for him, would he love himself a little more after learning about that?

  “Um…Ms (l/n), something odd is happening to my system,” JARVIS’ cut in, for once sounding uncertain.

  “Is it an attack?” Rhodey asked. Everyone in the room immediately took to battle-ready positions.

  “No, I…I think I have a visitor,” JARVIS answered, sounding incredibly bewildered.

  At that you stood down and chuckled. Yes, that would be how the situation is perceived by JARVIS. Everyone in the room looked to you curiously, waiting for an answer. Instead you just kept chuckling.  As if on cue, the holographic projectors in the room flashed and a hazy blue human form took shape. Said human form gave himself an onceover and wrinkled his nose in disapproval, “I guess that’s as good as it’s going to get.” He sighed. “I don’t understand how Stark’s AI is alright with being a disembodied voice.” The form flickered some more and took on some semblance of colour. “Much better.”

  Naturally, the remaining occupants of the room stared.

  “Unlike you, JARVIS was never a person,” you replied casually. “Guys, this is-“

  “Noah Kaiba, at your service,” Noah bowed with a flourish.

  “Nice to meet you Noah,” Steve replied, more out of habit than anything.

  “Aren’t you…dead?” Natasha, who has read the Kaiba files asked.

  The living occupants stared incredulously at the female assassin then at Noah. The green-haired Kaiba shrugged. “Technically speaking, I am dead. I am nothing but a digital copy of the real and dead Noah Kaiba’s brain. You can say that I am to the Kaiba system, what JARVIS is to the Stark network.”

  You smothered your sniggers behind your hand, way to oversimplify the story. You decided not to comment however as it was neither the time nor place for it. Everyone was saved from making any further comments as the lift doors to the penthouse slid open for a second time that day. A raven and a blonde stepped in. Said raven launched himself at you, and it took all your years of training to not bowl over, catching his 6 foot form.

  “Ooof, Mokie, you’re not that small anymore,” nevertheless you ruffled his hair affectionately.

  “(f/n)-nee!” The youngest Kaiba cried into the hug. 

  A wry grin flitted onto your lips, it didn’t matter how old the youngest Kaiba brother was, he would always be a cry-baby. You carefully manoeuvred the crying teen onto the couch, patting his back in a soothing motion. You turned to smile apologetically at your long-time partner, who simply nodded at you in reply. The room waited for Mokuba’s sobs to subside, and you wondered how long you had to hold the distraught teen. Thankfully for you, undead Kaiba brother decided to step in.

  “Mokuba, the more time you spend crying, the less time we have to find Seto.”

  The sobs stopped instantly, and Mokuba stood up abruptly, wiping his tears on the sleeves of his shirt as he did. A determined expression replaced the sad one on his face. You subtly shot Noah a grateful look. Waterworks out of the way, everybody settled in the living room for an impromptu briefing of the situation.

  Noah, who seemingly have been temporarily granted control of some of the tower’s system called up the necessary visuals. Sets of holograms appeared all over the room, many of them scaling down and collating themselves into A4 sized piles beside each occupant until only one large screen remained in the centre of the room.

  “I’ll first play the attack on Stark followed by the attack at Kaiba mansion. We will go through the information we have compiled from the footage later but if you want you can look through your own copies meanwhile,” Noah gestured at the holographic piles beside everyone. And then as if remembering something, he spoke up again, “Oh yes, the blonde wearing too much jewelry is Malik Ishtar, Kaiba’s head of security and the mop of black hair is Mokuba, our younger brother.”

  Right, self-introductions weren’t made yet…you brain supplied. Indeed, as you knew everyone in the room, it didn’t occur to you that they needed to be introduced. Polite greetings were exchanged and ever the captain, Steve nodded on everyone’s behalf, signalling Noah to roll the video.

  Much calmer the second time round, you caught many things you missed on the first. Fine details like the people’s height, direction the chopper flew off in and the tools they used… Then Noah rolled the footage of Kaiba’s attack and Malik had to place a hand on your shoulder so your KI wouldn’t set off the Hulk. Despite being a hologram and thus incapable of feeling KI, Noah cast you a knowing look. Had Mokuba returned to the room just a second earlier, he would have been caught in the fray. At best it would have meant that he too would have been kidnapped, at worst…you did not want to go there. The screen flickered black as the footage came to an end and you let out the breath you didn’t know you had been holding. A series of graphs and images were called up instead.

  “What we know so far is frankly not a lot. We know that they are an AT related organization, most likely Japanese and that their last known target was Sumeragi Kururu. I’ve also put together a report on their known arsenal based on the attacks…but that doesn’t really help us determine where Stark and Seto are,” Noah stated in a business-like tone. You noted his concerned glance at Natasha and Clint as he finished his briefing however and wondered what he was withholding.

  Apparently so did Natasha. “I sense a ‘but’ in there?”

  Noah looked at you, as if asking for permission. Well technically he wasn’t really asking you for permission so much as questioning you about Natasha’s trustworthiness… As angry as you were at SHIELD, the master spy had a point, Fury did not have to let her and Clint run off to help you guys but he did. At that you sighed but nodded. Noah raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment at your reluctant gesture.

  Casting one last glance at Clint and Natasha, Noah continued. “I’m currently rerunning analysis with the data we took from SHIELD, hopefully with the additional information, I will be able to put a name on our organization and find out where Stark and Seto are held.”

  “If I may, the analysis will probably go much faster with my assistance,” JARVIS piped up, not the least bit concerned at the fact that Noah had just hacked SHIELD database for information.

  To their credit, Natasha and Clint didn’t react aside from giving an amused snort. “Looks like I swiped the analysis from Aoi’s lab for nothing then,” Natasha commented lightly, waving a black USB drive to emphasize her point.

  “Additional information is always welcomed,” Noah said with a gentlemanly smile and held his hand out. Natasha looked at the outstretched holographic hand and then at Noah with an amused smirk. Everyone looked at the scene confused, and then Mokuba made ‘aah-ed’ in enlightenment.

  “Noah-nii, they don’t use Kaiba holographic projectors here,” Mokuba got out between giggles. Noha paled (if it was possible for holographic projections to pale) and muttered something about getting Seto not sending projector plans to Stark in exchange for the arc reactor.

  “Kaiba projectors are capable of forming tangible holograms,” Malik piped in while you took the USB from Natasha to plug it into the nearest outlet. The rest of the avengers nodded understandingly, visibly impressed. Of course, discussion about the kidnapping had to continue.

  “So what we need to figure out now is why Stark and Kaiba were taken,” Steve surmised.

  Sadly, one hawkeye disagreed. “I think before we even do that, we need to first consider if they’re still alive.” Clint threw out mercilessly.

  It was a question no one wanted to touch, but it was still a valid query. No point planning a retrieval mission if the targets were dead.

  Rhodey turned away, his knuckles turning white as the possibility of his friend’s death dawned on him. His reaction was nowhere near as the younger Kaiba’s however. Mokuba’s face turned white as sheet and the waterworks that was recently stopped threatened to start again. Tou shot Clint a death glare and pulled your surrogate brother into a reassuring hug.

  “Your Nii-sama isn’t that easy to kill.” You stated firmly, sounding more certain that you felt.

 “Don’t worry, I’m almost certain that Kaiba and Stark are alive and kicking.” Malik voiced out almost casually.

  “How are you so sure?” Steve asked.

  “Ishtar is right, Seto and Stark are definitely alive.” Noah added.

  “On grounds?” Clint challenged. Not that he wanted the two to be dead, but the certainty Noah and Malik had about their statements unsettled him.

 “Well, for starters, if they wanted Seto and Stark dead, they would have just killed them and left the body for us to find, why go through the trouble of kidnapping them?” Noah pointed out matter of factly, his usual arrogance tainting his voice.

“Exactly. Nobody goes through that much trouble just to kill someone. Trust me, I’m an ex-crime syndicate boss, I know how they think. They want those two for something, and until they get it, Kaiba and Stark are definitely alive.” Malik elaborated as he strolled to the bar and picked up one of the drinks you made.

  You heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that. The argument was convincing coming from two ex-villains.

  “In which case interrogation may be an issue then,” Natasha pointed out and another round of concern went around the room.

“Nii-sama won’t break.” Mokuba stated with so much finality that shocked everyone. “He won’t.” He reasserted.

“And we all know Stark can talk his way out of anything.” Steve added, mainly for your benefit. You smiled gratefully in reply.

“So we can also strike out the situation of them being under any serious harm then…” Malik summed up.

 “This means we just need to figure out what they want with Tony and Kaiba then!” Bruce said with false optimism. At that the room lapsed into silence again.

  Indeed, all that discussion still did not answer the crucial question of why they took Tony and Kaiba.

  “It could be the convention,” Natasha threw out her hypothesis. “We know that their initial target was Sumeragi, and I have it on good authority that she will be participating in the convention. Maybe they kidnapped our two billionaires to get a crack at her?”

  “That wouldn’t make much sense would it? Kidnapping those two will more likely cause the expo to be cancelled, or at least security to be doubled, it won’t make capturing Dr. Sumeragi any easier,” Bruce pointed out.

  “Or maybe they thought by kidnapping Stark and Kaiba, it’d force SHIELD to thin out their sources and give them a better shot at kidnapping Sumeragi again?” Clint threw out.

  Steve nodded in agreement, “Makes sense, they went through all the trouble to kidnap Ms Potts, turn her into a sleeper agent to infiltrate Stark’s party just to get to Dr. Sumeragi. Who’s to say this isn’t another convoluted plan to distract us from their real target?”

  Maybe you were biased, maybe you just didn’t like your mother being the centre of everything... The argument was logically sound, but your gut told you that you guys were going about this all wrong and you always trusted your gut. “But what if we are looking at this all wrong?” The words slipped out before you could help yourself.

  “What do you mean?” Malik asked, eyes twinkling. After working with him for so many years, you knew that meant he shared your doubts, just that he didn’t voice his thoughts out yet.  Not that you appreciated him putting you on the spot like that.

  “We’re assuming that Dr. Sumeragi is their final target, but what if she isn’t? What if they genuinely went after Tony and Kaiba-sama?” You stated weakly.

  Although your statement didn’t really hold candle to the much more convincing and logical angle Steve and Clint had come up with, it gave Malik the opening he needed. “Lets assume that’s true for a second, why would they change targets then?” He sounded genuinely curious, but you knew better. It was a baiting question.

  “Well Fury’s got a fortress around Sumeragi now,” Natasha supplied.

  “But that doesn’t explain why they took Stark and Kaiba instead, it’s not like they’re easy targets,” Steve countered. Natasha shrugged noncommittally, she was just answering a question.

  “That being said, SHIELD is proofed against AT technology, Kaiba mansion and Stark Tower isn’t,” Clint said thoughtfully and cast a quick look at Malik and Noah for affirmation.

  “We’re proofed against everything except AT,” Noah confirmed. The admission gave this new stance more credibility and everyone fell back into thoughtful silence.

  “We still haven’t figured out why they want Tony and Kaiba though,” Rhodey spoke up after a while.

  Without looking you could feel the glee rolling off Malik in waves, this was exactly what he was looking for. You shook your head slowly, why couldn’t he just share his thoughts openly like a normal person would.

  “That’s easy,” Malik grinned, not making much effort to conceal his smugness at figuring out the enemy’s plans anymore. “What do Seto Kaiba, Kururu Sumeragi and Tony Stark have in common?”

  “They’re all scientific geniuses?” Bruce answered.

  “But they went for Sumeragi first, if they wanted geniuses they would have gone for Stark or Kaiba first no?” Rhodey, who wasn’t familiar with your mom’s expertise asked.

  As much as you disliked your own mother, the comment still rubbed you the wrong way. You’d like to see Kaiba or Tony dismantle an AT construct in under 5 seconds.

 Bruce shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe she was an easier target?”

  “The insinuation on SHIELD’s lack of defence aside,” Malik shot Natasha and Clint a cheeky smirk at that, “They went through a lot of trouble to target Stark as a decoy just to get on the helicarrier to get to Sumeragi, that not only means she _isn’t_ an easier target but that she has something our two male geniuses don’t.” He paused for a second. “Besides a vagina.”

  Before Malik could follow up with ‘boobs’, you punched him at full force in the stomach knowing your partner could take it. Mokuba chortled and Noah shook his head amusedly. You were going to offer the answer to Malik’s question but Natasha beat you to it.

  “It’s AT, she’s the leading expert on AT technology, something even Stark and Kaiba aren’t well versed in.” Realization dawned in the redhead’s eyes.

  “I know Fury’s got her building something huge,” Clint let slip and the predatory glint in Malik’s eyes intensified.

  So that’s what your old partner was up to. He wanted this exact admission. A quick exchange of glances between yourself, Malik and Noah told you all you needed to know. Noah had found some relevant information while hacking SHIELD’s database, but the brief period of contact didn’t give him enough time to hack into such heavily guarded data.

  “They couldn’t get to their first choice, so they’re settling for the second best, Stark and Kaiba.” Steve breathed out as he finally got with the program.

  “I don’t know about Kaiba, but if anyone can figure out a new technology overnight, it’s Tony alright,” Rhodey added his own two cents.

  “That’s all fine and dandy and all, but that still doesn’t tell us where they are,” Steve pointed out with a frustrated huff.

  A knowing grin spread across Noah’s face, but it was JARVIS who stole the thunder.

  “I believe I may be able to assist you with that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh JARVIS, wonderful JARVIS, always stealing people's thunder. I don't know, as an author, I have a soft spot for the AI. 
> 
> Anyways, where has the two billionaires been taken? We will find out in the next installment of...Bar top romance! 
> 
> As usual, many thanks to all the kudos and comments, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. SO KEEP THEM COMING! 
> 
> All the love!

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, that looked much longer in microsoft word document. That's chapter 1! I'll try to update as soon as I'm done editing the next chapter. Apparently, I make a lot of mistakes when I'm writing at 2am in the morning. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are the love! <3
> 
> With much thanks and love  
> endlesssky


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